High School, go figure
by Lonewalker
Summary: Who could have ever guessed that by following a request, everything would go to hell? Seven years after the D-Reaper, Takato is about to find out why.
1. High School

Well, this is my first Rukato story in at least... 16 months. Don't be pissed though, I just get slight flashes of what to write and just make things up on the spot so bare with me. Anyway, this an AU story, set 7 years after the D-reaper. Takato helped fight but never exactly showed himself, so the Tamers don't know about him. Anyway this is rated R for swearing and graphic content... at some point or another. And I may make this a lemon, if the FF.net people don't ban me for it anyway. It will be Rukato at some future point in this story, so onward... before Rika figures out what I'm writing.  
  
High School  
  
Well buddy it's time for the most confusing time of your life: High School-  
A friend of mine  
  
Clutching her side as Taomon took the full blunt of the attacks from the D- reaper's agents; she fell on the ground, moaning in agony. Henry was already lying on the floor, half-conscious, struggling to reach an unconscious Terriermon.  
  
Ryo was still standing although breathing a bit heavily, proof that no matter how resistant Cyberdramon was, there was a limit to what he could take.  
  
Growling in anger, she struggled to get back up when she noticed one of the agents making a move towards her, launching its strange attacks of electricity towards her. Bracing herself to meet the pain and probable death, she threw her arms in front of her in a futile X position to at least put some mode of defense in front of her.  
  
The attack never came, a tall humanoid being covered in armor jumped in front of her, lifting an unusually large shield in front of himself, deflecting the attack, and lifting what seemed to be a silver lance, impaled the agent, turning it back to it's purple/pink slime like substance beforeturning to data.  
  
It looked at her and gave her a sharp nod before jumping away onto a building and disappearing from her site, leaving her alone with the Tamers and to wait for the approach of Alice and Dobermon...  
  
With a gasp, 17-year-old Rika Nonaka woke up from her dream/flashback, sweat dripping down her athletic form, soaking her night clothing.  
  
Before she could move or think seriously Renamon appeared at her side, the light of the rising sun glinting off of her fox-like form.  
  
"Anything wrong Rika?" asked the Kitsune looking down at her charge/partner. "I sense that you had that dream about 'him' again didn't you?"  
  
"Nothing's wrong" snapped the red headed beauty/tomboy "Just stay out of my dreams." She added a bit softer to hide the bite of her words, showing her soft side that only her Digimon has seen.  
  
'Him' was the digimon knight that became her and the tamer's unofficial guardian during their adventures in the digital world when she was 10 years old. According to the Digimon, he was a new breed of Digimon, so nothing was known of him. No name, no attacks, no type. He never even talked to them, just hand motions to give brief orders. He was also a fierce warrior, a strong one too, for he managed to defeat Beelzemon single handedly, and take on the D-reaper with no help from a Tamer.  
  
That was enough to impress the cold hearted Rika, and his frantic struggles to help her and her companions was enough to make Rika stop seeing Digimon as simply data. Of course she still refused to call Henry and company friends, even though she hung out with them for 5 years now. She preferred to call them useful acquaintances.  
  
With a small nod, Renamon disappeared back to her resting position on the deck outside, where she could rest and keep her senses sharp for any intruders who might trespass on her friend's home.  
  
Of course sleeping was now out of the question since there was only about two hours until she had to leave for school. And she couldn't sleep anymore anyway.  
  
Getting up, she undressed and wrapped a bathrobe around herself, heading towards her washroom to shower.  
  
As she let out a sigh of satisfaction as the warm water washed over her body, she leaned her head lightly against the wall of the shower, thinking of the knight that saved her all those years ago, and of a red dinosaur who made his home somewhere in Shinjuku park. Where exactly they never knew. They're only clues were a bunch of dug up holes in a few different places of the park. In the playground, in a shed where they found the portal to the digital world, the one where they entered 7 years ago, and the one from where their Digimon returned 5 years ago. Their were a bunch of other places where the Dinosaurian Digimon might live, but they have yet to find it, and from what Henry told them, they should leave him alone. If he wanted to be found, he'd let them find him. Besides, he never showed any hostility aside from stealing peoples lunch.  
  
Letting out a long breath after she finished washing her hair, Rika sat down on the floor of the shower, her mind taking her back to her past.  
  
She and Renamon picked up a Digital Field appearing about a day ago, and from what they noticed from the data they collected, the Digimon was somewhere in the park.  
  
Rika was snapped out of her thoughts as she felt Renamon stop and make her bump into her furry back.  
  
"Why the hell did you stop?" snapped the quick tempered 10 year old.  
  
"I believe we have found the creature we seek." Said Renamon simply, pointing to a red Dinosaur about the size of a human, walking around the baseball field, smelling the air and the field.  
  
"Great, looks more like a rookie, possibly just a baby. But data is data, Renamon, walk all over him!" said Rika coldly, as she took out her D-arc.  
  
Renamon jumped into the air and landed a foot on the side of the dinosaur's head, sending it flying into a tree, disorienting it.  
  
Getting up, the Digimon looked at Renamon curiously, and Rika frowned as her D-arc didn't pick up any data on it.  
  
Shaking it's head and rubbing the forming bruise, the Digimon looked at Renamon curiously and walked up to her, looking her up and down as though it was identifying it.  
  
"What the..." started Renamon but was interrupted as the Dinosaur put its nose on her chest and started smelling her. With a disgusted gasp, Renamon slapped the Dinosaur across its face, and kicked it in its stomach, sending it sprawling on the ground.  
  
"You!" spat Renamon as she attacked him with a cold fury, more angry than Rika ever saw her. Then again, she'd probably react the same way if someone walked up to her and started smelling her chest.  
  
With a cry, the Dinosaur ducked, making Renamon miss her target, when she regained her balance, she jumped into the air and cried "DIAMOND STORM" dozens of crystal daggers appeared and launched itself on the Dinosaur, only to ricochet off its hard skin.  
  
With a confused and pained look, the Dinosaur turned around and fled into the woods, disappearing so that Rika and Renamon wouldn't find it.  
  
Rika snapped out of it as she realized her skin started to wrinkle up, not to mention that she was out of warm water.  
  
Cursing at how cold the water was, she quickly turned the water off and went to dry herself.  
  
Once she was dressed in her school uniform, grumbling about having to where a skirt, like she does every school day. Yawning she put her hair in a loose ponytail, and decided to finish off her math homework from the day before.  
  
About an hour later she groaned in defeat and threw the books in her bag. Looking at her watched she swore in Japanese and English, grabbed her bag and ran out of her room. She ran down to her kitchen and before her mother could say anything, Rika started to wolf down her breakfast, in a way that Rumiko would call unladylike.  
  
Finishing her meal, she got up quickly, gave her grandmother, who just walked in, a quick nod of goodbye, and raced out her door.  
  
If there was one thing that Rika despised more than Kazu, it was to run to school. She wasn't lazy, in fact, she was in perfect shape. It was just that having to run in a skirt is really uncomfortable since there was always a chance of some guy catching a glimpse of her panties if she ran.  
  
Reaching her school, she barged in through the front door, and started to run up the stairs to the third floor, where her home room was.  
  
Panting heavily, she practically threw herself into her room just as the late bell rang.  
  
Her teacher, Mr. Kent, who was casually reading a book until classes' start, after the announcements of the day through the PA, said without looking up: "One day you're going to miss that bell Miss Nonaka and that day, I'm afraid, I must give you detention."  
  
Rolling her eyes at the greeting she sat down at her desk at the back of the classroom. She was almost late so many times that Mr. Kent started this morning routine of jokes if she got to class seconds before the bell rang.  
  
As Mr. Kent started to teach her Calculus class, and as all the students went into their 'bored but attentive' looks, Rika felt a slight tap on her shoulder, and looked beside her to see Ryo giving her his cocky smile, with a glint of amusement in his eyes, he threw her a piece of wrapped up paper.  
  
Glaring at her friend/nemesis/occasional date, she opened up the paper to read a message saying: 'Cutting it a bit close, aren't we my pretty?'  
  
Quickly jotting down a note herself, she threw the paper back at Ryo, which said: 'Shut up before I rip your head off and stuff it up your ass.'  
  
Throwing her back a note, she scowled as it said: 'Threats will get you everywhere with me'  
  
Which was viciously responded with: 'Flattery will get you killed, now shut the fuck up if you don't want to make another trip to the nurse's office'  
  
Laughing nervously at that, Ryo shut up and started to pay attention to the lesson. He knew she was serious. He was sent to the nurse way to many times, courtesy of Rika's fist. In fact he was so commonly known there that he had his own bed. Of course the Principal has threatened Rika with suspension if she assaulted him again. Bloody teachers.  
  
After class and a quick run to her locker, she made her way to her English class where she had Henry to keep her company. She didn't like school that much but her English class was always her favorite since her teacher was funny, and didn't bore her out of her mind.  
  
She didn't get a chance to talk though because once everyone sat down, they immediately started reading Shakespeare's "King Lear".  
  
Her next class was Physics where she just zoned out and waited until the class was over.  
  
After her fourth period class, which was Exercise Science, she moved outside to meet the other Tamers for lunch.  
  
She didn't eat with them all the time, only once or twice a week, preferring to keep to herself and to just think.  
  
She scanned the group and Tamers and groaned inwardly as Kazu was STILL worshiping Ryo. 'Hopeless Bastard' she thought.  
  
Henry was leaning against a tree eating a sandwich while Jeri leaned against him as she was reading a book. They insisted that they weren't dating, they were just really friendly. Of course Jeri gasped when Rika gave her thoughts of the two.  
  
Kenta has his nose buried in his Computer Engineering book. To Rika's surprise, Kenta became the smartest of the group when she expected Henry to be the brainiac. As much as she hated to admit it, she learned to tolerate him and respect him... slightly.  
  
Ryo was flirting with some girls before he came to eat lunch with them. As Rika expected of him, Ryo became the school womanizer and Jock. So Mister Perfect was now famous for his crazed Digimon, card skills, and his athletic skill.  
  
His womanizing didn't affect Rika, she just used him when she need some fun or to lose her frustration...most of the time was by beating on him, the rare occasion was when she needed some action.. It's not that she liked him; it was that he was the only guy who didn't run away screaming if she came on to him. He was the only one who wasn't always scared of her, to her knowledge anyway.  
  
Henry looked up from his book and waved at her, causing a sleeping Terriermon to fall off his head.  
  
"What was that for?" the rabbit dog whined "I didn't do anything this time..." he then noticed Rika "Oh, the crazy bitch is here."  
  
"I'll let that slide this time bunny rabbit." Spat Rika as she sat down, glaring at Kazu in a way that clearly said 'Shut up or die' which made him stop idolizing Ryo.  
  
"So what's new?" asked Kenta as he put his book away. If there was one thing that changed about him, is that he rarely backed off from her now, trying to keep it civilized between them. Sure he admired her looks, but he wasn't crazy enough to ask her out. Besides, he's too busy with his studies.  
  
"Nothing" said Rika as she took out her lunch.  
  
Before Kenta could start a conversation, Jeri sat up and called out: "Takato, over here."  
  
As Rika looked in the direction of where Jeri was shouting, she could clearly hear Kazu snort and say rather loudly "Great the loser is coming here again" which earned him a smack on the back of the head from Kenta. Another thing that changed is that Kenta never took and shit from anyone unless it risked a very serious fight, and he always kept Kazu in line.  
  
"Shut it Kazu, the guy's done nothing to you" said Henry as he sent Kazu a small glare.  
  
Kazu snorted and leant on Guardromon who was trying to catch a butterfly while remaining as a leaning post for his partner.  
  
Shaking her head, Rika moved her eyes onto Takato.  
  
He was a guy of about 5'11", light brown eyes and chestnut hair. He always wore long sleeved clothes and was slightly tanned. He was the school's best artist but he tended to be a loner, not like Rika but he actually tried to avoid everyone, preferring to stick to the shadows and not be noticed.  
  
Rika couldn't blame him after what he's been through during the D-Reaper saga. His mother was killed by the Reaper's agents and he was caught in the middle of the final battle between the Tamers and the D-Reaper. He ended up in the hospital barely alive and slipped into a comma for half a year. When he woke up he was paranoid but seemed to be dealing with it. However, his father, unable to cope with his wife's loss and not able to run his bakery properly, put Takato under the charge of his grandparents before leaving the city, needing to clear his mind.  
  
His friendship, whatever there was left, with Kazu and Kenta was destroyed. Partially due to Kazu's arrogance, partially to Takato's darkened mood, but basically because they both had Digimon and he had nothing.  
  
Takato, hearing his name being called, snapped out of his daze and nodded towards the group before starting to walk off.  
  
Giving a frustrated sigh, Jeri leaned back against Henri while absently stroking Elecmon's head. "He never speaks to anyone these days. It's really worrying me."  
  
"Have you spoken to his grandparents?" asked Henri  
  
"I did, and they said they looked into it but he still hasn't changed."  
  
"He'll open up when he's ready." Said Rika, listening in on their conversation. "Some people just need some time to get over some things."  
  
"You would know." Sneered Kazu, only to be backhanded by Kenta who hadn't bothered to look up from his book. "Oww, will you quit doing that man?"  
  
"Yes I would know." Growled Rika, suppressing the urge to hit him. "Besides, he can talk when he wants to. You should see him go on in law."  
  
"Say what?" said a shocked Ryo "You seem to pay more attention to him than you do to me." He grapped the area where his heart would be and faked a hurt look, while Terriermon snickered in the background.  
  
Flipping off the rabbit, she answered "I pay more attention to Kazu than you Mr. Perfect."  
  
"Well at least we know not everyone has completely grown up." Mumbled Elecmon sleepily as he sighed under Jeri's soothing hand.  
  
"Whatever." Grumbled Rika as she moved to grab her lunch, only to find nothing. "Kazu." She hissed "I told you, you lousy groveling jackass, to stop eating my lunch."  
  
"What are you looking at me for, I haven't even touched it."  
  
"Then who took it?"  
  
"Uh Rika? Look behind you." Said Terriermon quietly.  
  
Not liking the tone in his voice, she slowly turned around to face a red dinosaur munching on her sandwich. Waving, he said in a slightly childish accent "hello."  
  
With a yelp, she jumped back and landed in Ryo's lap, and before he could comment on the situation she elbowed him in the side. Quickly standing up, she grabbed her D-Arc and was about to call Renamon before Henri's comment stooped her.  
  
"Well at least we know where that Digimon is."  
  
Stopping what she was about to do, she closely examined him and quickly recognized him to be the rogue Digimon that lived in the park, and was Calumon's occasional play mate.  
  
"There you are." Gasped an arrogant, yet tired, voice. "Lousy pinapple head, I told you to stand still. Grrr I oughta bada boom your ass to hell."  
  
"Impmon." Greeted Rika neutrally. "Glad you're as pleasant as always."  
  
"Hello to you too toots. Where's foxy-mon?"  
  
"None of your business. Why are you here?"  
  
"Trying to get some info out of this buffoon but instead he said he was hungry and left to find some food."  
  
"And why did he do that?" asked Henry with a bit of amusement.  
  
"Uh... me and Calumon ate his... food supply."  
  
"I keep telling you Jeri, the guy's a bad influence on that cream puff." Said Ryo as he contemplated calling Cyberdramon, not fully trusting the ex- demon lord.  
  
"You hurt me kid, really. That's what I would say if I even gave a damn about it."  
  
"Back to business." Snapped Rika. "Now imp, why don't you just grab dino- boy and get out of here before I call Renamon and used you two as target practice."  
  
"Uh Rika... bad idea." Said Kenta nervously. "Remember the last time you fought him."  
  
Growling, Rika glared at Impmon, remembering Sakuyamon's embarrassing defeat to Beelzemon.  
  
They were now attracting a large crowd, people still being in awe at seeing Digimon, especially one you rarely see. Takato moved to the head of the line, and Rika noticed that he went very pale when he saw the group of Digimon.  
  
The red Digimon, having finished the entire group's lunch, licked his paws and looked around. Seeing Takato, he gave a low growl and jumped at him.  
  
AN Okay that's enough for now. I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but it will take a while because I am busy with school.  
  
Hope you enjoyed and please, if you hate it, don't bother reviewing. 


	2. The Plot Thickens

Well that was more reviews than I expected.  
  
Rika: (While sharpening a sword) surprised me too.  
  
Hey look who's back. And I was just getting used to a peaceful life.  
  
Terriermon: That's what happens when you start writing, your life risks to be more painful.  
  
Joy. So uh... Rika darling (gulps under her glare) uh... boss? Why are you sharpening that sword?  
  
Rika: Oh just in case you decide to do anything inappropriate.  
  
Hehe... I'm just...going to get Terriermon away from my fridge. Anyway, I'd like to thanks those who reviewed; the number of reviews really surprised me and flattered me. Anyway let's all boldly go where no man had gone before.  
  
Terriermon: Uh... everyone has written something at least once in their life.  
  
I'm talking about going into Rika's room.  
  
Rika: WHAT???  
  
Run. NOW.  
  
The Plot Thickens  
  
Acting quickly, Rika summoned Renamon and quickly told her to stop the Digimon, as Terriermon, Elecmon, and Guardromon moved to intercept him.  
  
They were too late though, the Digimon landed on Takato, his weight throwing them both too the ground releasing a pained grunt out of Takato.  
  
Terriermon, not thinking his plan out properly, launched himself at the Digimon only to bounce off his hard body.  
  
Renamon, having quickly appeared from a few tree's back, launched herself with her comrades at the Digimon, and being the fastest, she got there quickly and kicked him off Takato's struggling body.  
  
With a grunt, the Digimon skidded away a few feet before planting his feet into the ground to stop his movements. Shaking off the attack, he glared at Renamon and Rika also noted that his eyes dilated when he started to growl dangerously.  
  
"Come on, stupid piece of crap, give me some info here." Muttered Kazu as he kept hitting his D-Arc, hopping it would give him some information about the unknown Digimon.  
  
"Don't bother, Visor-boy." Said Rika as she started shuffling through her deck, looking for a card to help Renamon if she needed it.  
  
She only got Kazu's frustrated yell of "No data? What the hell?" as an answer.  
  
"Henry!" she called "Any idea what the hell this Digimon's type is?"  
  
"No idea." Was his reply as he shaked the dazed Terriermon. "But I doubt physical attacks would work much on him."  
  
Renamon then proceeded to kick the Digimon again, sending him flying into a nearby tree, making the tree dangle at an odd angle.  
  
"Never mind then." Muttered the Chinese boy.  
  
"Renamon, take him out." Yelled Rika as she watched the fight with a bit of irritation. She liked knowing what she was fighting but this guy didn't give her much to go by. He was either a champion or a strong Rookie by the way he could take Renamon's and Guardromon's attacks.  
  
"Rika don't." yelled Ryo. "The Digimon doesn't seem that dangerous..."  
  
"He just attacked a student." She spat at him.  
  
"At least subdue him so we can get a bit of information out of him." Replied Henry, Terriermon having left to rejoin the battle.  
  
"Hello? Since when have Digimon answered questions?" yelled Kenta, who was keeping MarineAngemon as backup if they needed it.  
  
"Look," started Henry "It's a new type of Digimon and it's managed to survive in our world without a Tamer for 7 years. Doesn't that make you the least bit curious?"  
  
"Calumon is a different type of Digimon who has no Tamer and he's lived here for 7 years. Nothing that special about him." Said Impmon, observing the fight with a bored expression.  
  
"Calumon was the catalyst and Jeri looked after him, Impmon." He replied patiently.  
  
"Fine, let's do..." started Ryo only to be interrupted by Jeri screaming "Incoming!"  
  
The next thing everyone knew, a dazed Terriermon and Elecmon were lying on Ryo's twitching body.  
  
"Man." Gasped Terriermon "That mon knows how to throw a punch."  
  
"Hmph, amateurs." Muttered Rika and Impmon as they regarded the fight with crossed arms. Realizing that they said the same thing and were in the same position, they both started glaring at each other, Rika being the first to return her attention to the fight.  
  
She nearly groaned at the sight. The fight had drawn a crowd who kept cheering for a certain Digimon. She was thankful that they at least kept their distance in case of any attacks missing its mark. She noticed briefly that Takato was still on the ground with a look of fear in his eyes. 'Great,' she thought, 'another guy who's going to press charges.'  
  
"Uh guys..." started Kenta who was watching the fight and helping Ryo to his feet, "Aren't they supposed to subdue him?"  
  
"Yeah and your point is?... Shit." Said Rika.  
  
Renamon had used her power paw on the Digimon, sending him flying into Guardromon's destruction grenade. Collapsing on the ground, it gave a loud groan before standing up and shaking off the effects of the attack.  
  
Sweatdroping, Jeri said "Maybe that amount of fire power is what we're going to need to subdue him."  
  
"Oh for the love of..." muttered Rika as she swiped a hyper speed card through her D-arc. "Renamon, use whatever force necessary on him but keep him alive. Christ I don't even know why I'm bothering to listen to you guys."  
  
"Guardromon go." Yelled Kazu as he swiped a Power card.  
  
Receiving the power boost, Guardomon launches another volley of missiles at the Digimon, most of them hitting home. Howling in pain, the digimon slowly struggled up from the crater it was blasted in, it's right arm shifting in and out of existence.  
  
"Damnit." Shouted Henry as he grabbed Kazu's collar "I told you to subdue him."  
  
"Hey he's alive isn't he?" shouted back Kazu.  
  
"Now he's just angry." Said Ryo as he took out his D-arc, ready to call Cyberdramon if they needed him.  
  
He was right, the Digimon was now snarling ferociously at Renamon and Guardromon. It launched itself at Renamon, but due to her speed boost, she easily evaded the attack and kicked him from behind.  
  
Recovering from the attack, the Digimon set it's sights on Guardromon and launched itself at the robot, it's arms starting to glow.  
  
"Great, now it's in a blind rage." Said Ryo. "If he was keeping track on what was going on, he'd take them on one at a time instead of mindlessly attacking the next one he sets his eyes on."  
  
"Thank you for that lovely lecture professor." Spat Rika. "But unless you want it dead, I suggest you come up with a good idea to stop it before it deletes itself or hurts anyone out there."  
  
"Well, for your..."  
  
He was interrupted when they heard a voice roar "Rock Breaker"  
  
With a loud clang, Guardromon went skidding across the school grounds and into the gym's wall.  
  
"Aww shit and they just fixed that." Swore Kazu. "My parents can't afford this."  
  
"Okay that's it." Said Ryo before calling into his D-arc "Cyberdramon, time for some action."  
  
Meanwhile, Renamon was doing her best to avoid the dinosaur, but since the crowd prevented her from getting away from the school grounds, and the grounds mostly being flat, she didn't have much of a field to use to her advantage.  
  
Dodging a swing of it's claws, she appeared behind it and grabbed it's tail, getting ready to throw it into a tree, only she ended up hissing in pain as the dinosaur used it's tail to swing her forwards on her back and it bit down on her arm.  
  
Holding back a groan, she punched it several times across the face until it let go. Breathing a bit heavily, she decided to end the fight and jumped into the air, powering up a bit and painfully screaming out "Diamond storm."  
  
Thinking that would be enough to knock him out, she gasped in surprise as the shards harmlessly bounced of the Digimon.  
  
"Awww fuck." Said Rika as she started to see the outcome of the fight. "That guy's a virus. Renamon get the hell out of there."  
  
Not needing to be told twice, Renamon moved to get out the way but was knocked off balance when the Reptilian Dinosaur hit her in the face with it's tail sending her sprawling heavily onto the ground.  
  
Panting heavily while trying to shake the dizziness off, Renamon tried to stand up only to topple back to the ground. Looking at the Digimon, she grimly realized what was going to happen as it's mouth started to glow, it's head rearing back.  
  
"Oh shit, Renamon." Shouted Rika.  
  
"Terriermon!." Shouted Henry as he swiped a digivolution card with Jeri.  
  
"Foxy-mon!" shouted Impmon as he launched himself at the Digimon, only to be easily swatted away by it's tail.  
  
A green glow surrounded Terriermon as a yellow one surrounded Elecmon.  
  
"Terriermon..." "Elecmon..."  
  
Cyberdramon was quickly approaching the school flying as fast as it could, sensing the panic and urgency in his partner.  
  
"DIGIVOLVE TO...."  
  
Impmon coughed out a few drops of data as he tried to ignore the loud ringing in his head.  
  
Terrermon and Elecmon were enveloped in shells as they started to morph to their higher forms.  
  
The Digimon had reached the limit of power it wanted to use. The Renamon would pay for attacking him.  
  
"PYRO..."  
  
"GARGOMON" "LEOMON"  
  
As the champion Digimon finished their transformation, they launched themselves at the Digimon. They were too late.  
  
"...SPHERE"  
  
A ball of fire was launched at Renamon. All Rika could do was watch from the side helplessly as her partner was about to meet her end.  
  
Renamon waited for the pain and was surprised it never came. Looking up she noticed Cyberdramon in front of her who swiped the attack away.  
  
Breathing in relief, it was all Rika could do to keep her façade up and not collapse. She wouldn't admit it bit it was the first time she was glad Ryo was around.  
  
The Digimon growled louder as Cyberdramon readied himself to fire an attack, as Gargomon cocked his gattling guns at him, and as Leomon unsheathed his sword.  
  
"We don't want to hurt you." Said Leomon in his calm, gruff voice. "But if we must, we will do it."  
  
"Come on bub, just make a move," Teased Terriermon "I would just like to pay you back for that beating you gave me."  
  
Roaring, the Digimon was about to launch himself at the nearest opponent but froze when he felt something cold pressed against the back of his head.  
  
"Just try it Pineapple-head." Came the voice of Beelzemon "I am having a bad day and seeing your data spilling out of your head will make it all the better." As though to prove it, the crowd could hear the sound of a gun being loaded.  
  
"Now turn around slowly with your hands on your head."  
  
"Terriermon!"  
  
"Sorry Henry but I had to say it."  
  
"No movies for you tonight."  
  
"Awww, come on! I was going to watch the Matrix."  
  
As though it was listening to Gargomon, the Digimon slowly lifted it's paws while turning to face Beelzemon. Catching him off guard, the Digimon knocked his gun out of his hand and launched a fireball in his eyes, temporarily blinding him. Then, to the Tamers surprise, it ran off faster than they would have expected from it.  
  
"What the..." said Kazu. "Hey get him."  
  
"Let him go." Sighed Henri.  
  
"And why should we do that? He just wiped the floor with our Digimon and nearly killed Renamon, not to mention severely damaging Guardromon" he pointed back to his robot companion who was slowly walking towards the group while muttering "System malfunction"  
  
"He reacts violently to hostile movements." Replied Henry while pinching his nose in frustration. "Besides, class is about to start."  
  
"What? What's going on?" shouted Beelzemon, his hands thrashing in front of him, trying to grab something to hold on to.  
  
Rika sighed irritably. "Okay, Gargomon, you make sure Renamon gets back to my house, Guardromon-Christ will you stop muttering that- take care of Beelzemon."  
  
As soon as she said that, the bell rang and the students slowly started to make their way to class.  
  
Walking beside Kenta to their data management class, she noticed Takato dazedly making his way up to the school.  
  
Even if it went against her persona, she knew that someone needed to make sure that Takato was okay, and since she was the only one who noticed that she knew she would have to check up on him.  
  
Telling Kenta that she would catch up to him she slowly approached Takato.  
  
She had to admit that he did change since he was a kid. His long, wild hair was now short and under control, he also was a lot broader around the shoulders. Not to mention his eyes could hold an intensity that could catch a girl's eye. Hell to her standards you could say he was cute.  
  
Snapping out of her thoughts, she made her way to Takato and asked him if he was okay.  
  
"Okay? Yeah I'm okay." He quickly said, not catching her eye.  
  
"Are you sure? You did look pretty scared out there."  
  
"And why would you care?" he snapped "You're the Ice Queen; I thought you couldn't give a damn about anyone else?"  
  
Narrowing her eyes, Rika was wondering if was worth the effort it would take to kick the shit out of him until Takato sighed heavily.  
  
"Look I'm sorry." He said as he started to walk away. "Just do yourself a favor and stay the hell away from me."  
  
Shaking her head angrily she made her way to class while muttering "freak". She barely registered seeing Guardromon being tossed half way across the grounds by a still thrashing Beelzemon.  
  
*****  
  
It was after school and this area of the park was mostly deserted.  
  
Sighing in frustration, Takato made his way to another one of Guilmon's hideouts. The one in the middle of the park was now out of question since Impmon found it. Damn it and it took a long time to find that one too. Lousy nosy Imp.  
  
Pushing aside the heavy boulder, Takato made his way down the hole to the abandoned area of the Tunnels. Apparently that hole was the only way to access this area. After managing to put the boulder back in place, with a certain amount of difficulty, Takato made his way down to see if Guilmon was there.  
  
Slipping on a root, Takato cursed loudly as he fell the rest of the way down into the damp tunnel.  
  
Shaking his head, he slowly got up and groaned in frustration when he was pounced on by his overly friendly partner.  
  
"Guilmon," he grunted "You're getting way too big for this."  
  
"But I'm happy to see you." Whined the reptilian Digimon.  
  
"A simple hello would do." He muttered as he tossed a few bags of supplies to the side. "Looks like this is your new home for now bud."  
  
"Okey dokey." Said the Digimon absently as he rummaged through the food.  
  
"Hey, hey." Shouted Takato "Those have to last you at least two days boy."  
  
"But I'm hungry" he whined  
  
'Man' he thought 'You would think he'd mature a bit after all these years.'  
  
"Anyway," he said "Mind telling me what that was all about back there?"  
  
"I wanted to play."  
  
"Guilmon, I told you that you can't come and visit me at school. No one can know that you're my partner. And since they all think you're a rogue Digimon, trying to pounce on me to say 'hello' will only make them think of it as an act of aggression."  
  
"But everyone knows about the other Digimon. Why can't they know about you and me?"  
  
"It's...it's complicated." Sighed Takato "I'll tell you some other time."  
  
"But you always say that."  
  
"Look it's for your own good okay?" he snapped and immediately regretted it when Guilmon flinched and had a hurt look in his eyes. "Look Guil, I'm sorry okay? It's just if everyone knows too much about you we would both be taken away to be studied. You know how all those scientists go to any level to study things related to the digital world. Besides we're dangerous."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Remember that fight at school?"  
  
"But I was defending myself."  
  
"And my anger was going to make you kill people. It scared me half to death when those Digimon attacked you. You can take them on but you're no match for Cyberdramon at you current state."  
  
"But if you'd just let me digivolve..."  
  
"NO!" shouted Takato "No, not again. Never again."  
  
"Takato." Guilmon said, turning serious "I can't stop it. A Digimon can't stop it's digivolution forever. I'm afraid that if you keep stopping me from digivolving I will either digivolve against my will or the power stored in will destroy me."  
  
"I'm sorry boy but I can't risk that monster to return." Replied Takato quietly  
  
"Takato that was a mistake. You've got to start thinking about this: are you afraid of what I can become? Or are you afraid of what you can make me do?"  
  
Takato shuddered, remembering the events of earlier that day. His anger at Guilmon being assaulted like that caused him to go feral. If it weren't for his quick card swipes, Guilmon would have been deleted. He was just thankful that everyone was too preoccupied with the fight to notice his quick work.  
  
"Look Guil, I'll see you tomorrow okay? Grandma's expecting me to cook supper tonight."  
  
Guilmon looked sadly upon his departing partner. Everyday Takato was getting more and more distant. And what bugged Guilmon to no end is that there was no way for him to help him.  
  
Feeling the twinge inside of him again, he growled in agony. He wouldn't be able to fight it off this time. He sure hoped Takato would forgive him for this.  
  
"Guilmon digivolve to..."  
  
*****  
  
Takato sighed as he could feel the flood of relief coming out of Guilmon. Their link allowed him to know what was going on with him. It was their bond that helped Guil to escape the fight.  
  
He knew that Guilmon couldn't help it this time. He sure hoped that Growlmon didn't wreck the place too much to get rid of all that energy.  
  
*****  
  
Rika was pissed. Actually, pissed doesn't even come close to what she was feeling. First she was sore all day when she started to feel Renamon's pain. Then she got home and realized she had three day's worth of homework to do, and then about an hour ago she got an urgent call from Kenta to come over to his place, and finally she spent the past hour driving through traffic at 10 o'clock at night. This had better be worth it or Kenta will be eating out of a straw for a month.  
  
Pulling up at Kenta's house, she noticed Henry's car and Ryo's bike. Great, she thought, if those two are here then I can give up on this being short.  
  
Knocking on Kenta's door and politely greeting Kenta's mother, she made her way up to Kenta's room. Opening the door she walked into the room to see Ryo leaning against the wall, Henry pacing around the room, Kenta typing furiously at his computer, a half asleep Kazu on Kenta's bed, Jeri sitting on a chair, and a bored Impmon lounging on the dresser.  
  
"Where's Suzi?" she asked  
  
"Left her at home to sleep." Replied Henri "She's got school tomorrow."  
  
"And we don't?" growled Rika. "Look Kenta this had better be worth it cause I have a lot of homework to finish and you know how I get when I don't get enough sleep."  
  
Kenta just grunted in response as he continued to type. There was silence in the room interrupted by Kazu's snore, which infuriated Rika to no end.  
  
She was about to leave when Kenta suddenly shouted "I got it." Which sent Kazu toppling off the bed.  
  
"Who dat?" he slurred sleepily. "Who dere?"  
  
"Shut it visor boy."  
  
"Rika? Don't tell me I'm dreaming again. Are you going to take out the leather and whip again?"  
  
There was silence in the room as every one stared at Kazu in shock as Rika seethed with anger in disgust.  
  
"I'm sorry guys but it looks like there's going to be a homicide tonight." She growled as she cracked her knuckles. Henry and Ryo quickly jumped in and grabbed her before she caused the disoriented Kazu harm.  
  
"Uh guys..." started Kenta, giving Kazu one last weird look. "I thought it would be better if you checked this out for yourself. You see I managed to scan a picture of that Digimon we fought today."  
  
"If I get my hands on that piece of shit." Muttered Impmon. No one paid any attention to him though.  
  
"Well I managed to get a good look at him and I saw something that caught my eye." He typed a few digits and the picture of the Rogue Digimon zoomed in on his chest, focusing on three black triangle look-alikes attached to a black circle.  
  
Rika froze and immediately walked to the computer to examine the symbol more closely, followed by Ryo, Henry, and Jeri.  
  
"What's all the commotion over there?" muttered Impmon as he jumped down on Kazu's chest and onto Ryo's head. "Geez, what the...HOLY SHIT! Please don't tell me it's what I think it is!"  
  
"What's going on over there?" yelled a more awake Kazu. "Can't a guy get any... awww fuck."  
  
"It's what you think it is, Impmon." Said Henry grimly. "It's the hazard."  
  
"But...but I thought only one Digimon had that thing." Whimpered Kazu.  
  
"Only one does." Said Kenta. "So I'll give you one guess at who this guy is."  
  
"Megidramon." Said Rika hoarsely.  
  
A/N well that's it for now, hope you enjoyed. The next update should be up in a week, minimum. 


	3. Hell Hath No Fury Like A Tamer's Scorn

Me: Okay I'm back.  
  
Terriermon: Good, cause your fridge is out of food  
  
Me: I swear I am going to have to put a lock on my door. Anyway thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapter. Sorry for the delay for this chapter but I do have school and I do have a shit load of work to do. And also if it suddenly jumps to a flashback type of thing, it's just me showing what happened during the D-Reaper episode. Doing the actual flashback things would be to confusing. And it should be noted that I have NOT seen the final two episodes of season 3 so bare with me if it's off. Ah well better confusing people then homework.  
  
Terriermon: which you should be doing right now  
  
Me: Shut it rabbit.  
  
Terriermon: I'm just saying it as it is.  
  
Hell Hath No Fury like a Tamer's Scorn  
  
"No way." Shouted Rika as she paced the room furiously. She was pissed. Very pissed, which wouldn't be something new for her if she wasn't also scared. She didn't like being scared. It didn't suit her and every time she was scared, something bad always happened.  
  
The other Tamers weren't doing so well either. Ryo was frowning at the wall, Henry was mumbling to himself and fiddling with his D-Arc, Kazu was as pale as a ghost, Kenta was at his computer studying the images of the unknown Digimon and Megidramon, Jeri looked as though she was going to be sick, and Impmon was gritting his teeth and cracking his knuckles every two minutes.  
  
Furious, Rika glared at the group who hadn't said a word in 15 minutes. She had had enough. "Look Kenta, you can't be right. That thing was taken down with the D-Reaper. I saw it get deleted with my own eyes."  
  
"Don't you think I know that?" snapped Kenta. "I know what you saw but there is no denying it, the data I managed to capture from that Digimon has some of the exact same copies that Megidramon has." Ignoring Rika's scowl and Kazu's motions for him to shut up, Kenta thought for a moment before continuing. "Rika, you didn't exactly see him get deleted all you saw was him bursting into data, and our Digimon burst into data whenever their forced back into their Rookie forms. And you were trying to find a way out of there so you didn't have a chance to see if he actually was deleted."  
  
"Kenta," hissed Rika, trying not to punch something. "That monster did more damage then the D-Reaper. He took out Beelzemon and SaberLeomon with ease, not to mention that he nearly killed me." She said that last part with distaste, hating to bring up that memory. "If he comes back, we won't stand much of a chance."  
  
"We'll deal with it when we get there." Said Henry as he rubbed his hand through his hair tiredly.  
  
"When we get there?" shouted Impmon. "If you haven't noticed, I didn't stand a chance against him and I'm one of the strongest fighters here." Everyone glared at him. "What? It's true. Anyway, we have to come up with some sort of plan."  
  
"The way I see it," said Ryo "That Digimon hasn't evolved in 7 years, which must mean that he lost too much data in the fight against the D-Reaper too go back to that form."  
  
"What is wrong with you? That Digimon has the power to level the city and you guys are just going to ignore the fact that he might return? Well you can bull shit your way through this if you want." Snarled Impmon as he jumped to the window. "But I'm going to find someone who knows what that Digimon is truly like." And then he was gone.  
  
Tired, scared, and furious Rika punched the wall hard and left the room nursing a sore hand, cursing up a storm.  
  
"Uh guys?" said Jeri "What did he mean by finding someone who knows how to deal with Megidramon?"  
  
Silence filled the room.  
  
"Someone who knows what Megidramon is truly like?" Mumbled Henry "Looks like there's another Tamer out there."  
  
*****  
  
Tossing once again on his bed, Takato sighed heavily and gave in to the fact that he wasn't going to get any sleep any time soon. Groaning in frustration and knowing that he was going to regret it the next day, he got out of bed and walked out onto the deck to clear his mind.  
  
The Tamers had come close to figuring out his secret, he was on Rika's list of those she would liked to punch (which he managed to avoid for 3 years now), and Guilmon was on a Digivolving frenzy. Not a good day at all. It might also have to do with the fact that he has a test in the morning and hasn't even studied for it, and he still has to finish the books for his literature class. Why the hell can't school just give you interesting books to read? Come on, who wants to read "Heart of Darkness"?  
  
Grumbling, Takato sat down on one of the chairs and took out the D-Arc he always kept on him.  
  
He did not like the piece of junk, not at all. His old red one was destroyed on that fateful day when Megidramon was born and was replaced a few days later with this new one. Instead of the usual white and a certain color surrounding the screen, it was completely black with red inscriptions surrounding the screen. Too much of a reminder of his failure. Too much of a reminder of how Gallantmon was lost.  
  
Tossing it on the table next to him, he sat back and stared at the sky for several minutes until he started to have the feeling that he was being watched.  
  
Standing up, he looked around sharply and made a move to enter his house until he heard the thump of something landing behind him.  
  
"Hey kid."  
  
"Impmon." He said neutrally, turning around and staring at the Imp.  
  
Giving a sidelong look to his D-Arc lying on the table, Impmon leaned against the wall of his house and stared at him in a serious manner instead of his usual arrogant manner.  
  
"I thought you told me he was dead." Said Impmon coldly, his thumb summoning a fireball and vanishing it every few seconds.  
  
"Thought who was dead?" asked Takato nervously, hoping that it wasn't what he thought it was.  
  
"Don't give me that shit." Snapped Impmon. "I'm in no mood for your games this time Takato. That monster is still alive. You told me, you swore to god that that monster died with the D-Reaper."  
  
"So I lied." Said Takato, trying to figure out a way to not piss the Imp off more then he already was. "What did you expect me to do? Tell you the truth and just stand by as you finished off my best friend?"  
  
"Better that then risking that monster to come back."  
  
"As long as I can control my anger you don't have to worry about it."  
  
A flash of light surrounded Impmon and it was soon replaced by the intimidating form of Beelzemon.  
  
Before Takato could react, he had a gun inches away from his head.  
  
"Then what's stopping me from destroying the source of it? What's stopping me from making sure that you will not make the same mistake twice?" snarled Beelzemon, his red eyes flashing menacingly.  
  
"Are you still that angry that he beat you?" replied Takato, trying to let the demon know how scared he was.  
  
"That's only one reason. That monster nearly killed my Tamers, and murdered god knows how many innocent lives." Said Beelzemon in cold voice, his finger itching to pull the trigger.  
  
"Gee Impmon, I didn't know you gave a damn about other people."  
  
"Well kid," said Beelzemon as he grabbed Takato by the neck, lifting him up off the ground "We have you to thank for that now don't we?"  
  
Choking on the Digimon's grip Takato tried to reply but all that came out was a gurgling noise.  
  
Staring at his gun and seeming to have a mental debate with himself, Beelzemon muttered "I've become too soft." And released Takato, dropping the Tamer to the ground gasping for air.  
  
"Consider that as repayment for the friendship you gave me." Snarled Beelzemon as he started to walk away. "If it weren't for you I probably would have been killed long ago, not to mention Elecmon would be dead. Consider me sparing your life and not telling anyone about your secret as a repayment of the debt I owed you."  
  
Giving a sharp whistle into the night air, Beelzemon gave his attention one last time. "But that debt is gone. And I now know who your partner is so the next time I see him, I will kill him."  
  
When he was about to leave, Takato whispered "147." Seeing Beelzemon turn and stare at him, he continued "147 people were killed by Megidramon."  
  
At that moment, his motorcycle drove into the driveway. Giving one last look to the crouching Tamer, he jumped on his bike and disappeared into the night.  
  
Slowly getting to his knees, Takato stared in the direction Beelzemon disappeared into and gave a heavy sigh. Things could not get any worse.  
  
"Takato?" shouted his grandmother. "Are you still up? I told you to get to bed mister. Now get back to your room before you get into any more trouble."  
  
And he just had to say that didn't he?  
  
*****  
  
Jumping to another roof, he slashed at the cables of another one of the agents before continuing his frantic run.  
  
'Damnit' thought Gallantmon 'There are too many, I can't keep doing this.'  
  
The D-Reaper had spread faster than he imagined and it was now heading for his parent's bakery. He didn't have much time.  
  
Jumping off the last building, he landed in front of his bakery and knocked loudly on the door.  
  
"Mom." He shouted in Takato's voice "We have to get out of here now!" At least his father to be out of town.  
  
Confused, his mother ran out of the bakery and almost screamed when she saw the knight.  
  
"Mom, mom, it's okay. It's me." Said Takato desperately.  
  
"Takato?" said his mother nervously. "What happened to you? Where's Guilmon?"  
  
"Right here." Replied Gallantmon in Guilmon's voice.  
  
"What?" replied his mother, now staring at Gallantmon intently.  
  
"Uh...I'll explain later. We have to go now." Said Takato as he moved to pick her up.  
  
Before he could react, a powerful blast hit him on the side, shattering his shield and sending him flying into the bakery.  
  
"Takato!" shouted his mother, running to the bakery.  
  
"Stay back!" roared the dual voice of Gallantmon as he stumbled out of the ruined bakery.  
  
Looking in the direction where he assumed the blast came from; Gallantmon narrowed his eyes as he saw the main agent of the D-Reaper sitting casually on the roof of a building.  
  
"Great," mumbled Takato from his sphere "it's the Jeri wannabe again."  
  
"Now, now organic meatbag be nice." Replied the agent as it floated down to him.  
  
"How's this for nice?" snarled Gallantmon as it tried to stab it with his lance.  
  
Casually grabbing the lance, it threw him into the air and jumped up and kicked him back into the streets, creating a crater where Gallantmon was slowly getting out of.  
  
"Okay, owww." Said Takato. "Okay that's it, GRANI!"  
  
Before the agent could reply, Grani flew in and crashed into it's back, sending it flying into another building.  
  
Jumping on it, Gallantmon circled above the ruins of the building keeping a sharp eye out for her, trying to get his shield to regenerate, and keeping an eye on his mother who was hiding behind the bakery.  
  
Letting out a roar of anger, the agent jumped out of the ruins and tried to ram into Grani, who just flew to the side, it's mouth opening for it's attack.  
  
"Yuggoth Blaster!"  
  
The agent quickly turned and slapped aside the attack with ease.  
  
"Awww shit." Said Gallantmon.  
  
The agent quickly flew into Gallantmon, tossing him off Grani and tossed him into the ground... again. It then grabbed Grani and threw it as far as it could, tossing it out of the battle for the moment.  
  
It then gazed down at a badly beaten Gallantmon and powered her attack.  
  
Gallantmon looked up and only had time to mutter "Not good." Before being hit by the agent's attack.  
  
Screaming in agony, Gallantmon was thrown across the street and de- digivolved into Takato and Guilmon.  
  
Struggling to stand up, Takato glared at the agent who was slowly approaching him, its claws flexed for the final strike.  
  
"Stay away from him." Shouted his mother as she blocked the agent's way. 'You will not hurt my son."  
  
"Mom!" Takato weakly cried. "Stay away from that thing. It's... too dangerous." Clutching his arm, he collapsed on the ground groaning in agony. 'Shit.' He thought 'now I have a broken arm to deal with.'  
  
"You will not hurt him." Shouted his mother again as the agent stared at her.  
  
Standing still, as though thinking it over, the agent smiled "Okay then." And rammed it's claws into her chest.  
  
It seemed to go in slow motion for Takato as the agent stabbed through his mother's chest, it's hand sticking through it, blood and a few organs flowing out. A brief flash of surprise crossed his mother's face before she fell. She was dead before she hit the ground.  
  
"No..." muttered Takato as tears flowed down his face. 'No...NOOOOOOO!"  
  
Shaking in rage and grief, Takato glared at the agent, who was casually wiping off the blood from it's hand, with murder in his eyes.  
  
"You monster." He shouted, his voice trembling with barely suppressed rage. "She was an innocent in this, she did nothing to you."  
  
"I was programmed to annihilate life and since this being refused to let me destroy you, taking her life was the more logical thing to do." Replied the agent.  
  
"This...is all indifferent to you? She was an innocent."  
  
"Statement: there are no innocents among humans."  
  
His rage now fully showing, Takato didn't notice his D-Arc shining with dark light and Guilmon in his viral state.  
  
"You'll pay for that." He shouted. "I'll make you pay. I'll make you suffer."  
  
His D-Arc was now screaming as the dark light shown brightly. Slowly at first, then faster, cracks started to appear all over it as it spelled out "Dark Digivolution activate"  
  
A dark aura consumed Guilmon and then slowly started to grow until it was as tall as a house.  
  
As though breaking free from its prison, the creature that was once Guilmon shook off the light and gave a roar before glaring at the agent.  
  
It's snake like tail swished back and forth as though eager to draw blood, it's eyes menacing and soulless.  
  
Takato never noticed his D-Arc shattering into dozens of pieces before turning into data.  
  
"Destroy it." Takato ordered the creature.  
  
Not waiting for any more instructions, the creature launched itself at the agent.  
  
*****  
  
Rika just got home. Cursing at the time, she made her way to her room and got ready to attempt to get a descent's night's rest.  
  
'It was a long day' she thought as she lied down on her futon. She seemed to only get bad news after bad news and the worst thing was that she still had some homework to catch up to. Life never was fair to her.  
  
After about an hour, Rika was still starring at the ceiling, the nearly forgotten memories of Megidramon forcing their way back to the surface.  
  
'He can't be back, he just can't.' she thought grimly as she sat up. Going to the kitchen to get a drink, she went back to her room, exhausted and angry. She was not going to let the memory of that monster scare her.  
  
She didn't get to sleep for another few hours.  
  
*****  
  
Beelzemon was driving down the destroyed part of Shinjuku. Yamaki had traced his missing program, Grani, to this area. He had detected two other being with it. One was identified as being part of the D-Reaper and the other was assumed to be that knight who had apparently "stolen" the program.  
  
"Beelzemon come in." came the cold voice of Yamaki through the waki talki they gave him.  
  
Carefuly picking up the small object (to him anyway), he acknowledged the call.  
  
"We just got a power surge from that area." Said Yamaki. "We don't know what happened, one moment this Digimon was so week he couldn't have fought Terriermon..."  
  
"Hey I resent that." Came the voice of the rabbit through the communicator.  
  
"Wong, get that rabbit away from me now!" he could here the man shouting. "Anyway, one moment it was weak and the next moment its power skyrocketed. I don't know what's going on but it seems to be putting some of your 'friends' on edge."  
  
Grunting in acknowledgement, Beelzemon said "What kind of Digimon could suddenly... SHIT!"  
  
Cutting off the conversation, Beelzemon hit the breaks on the bike and stood to gape at the scene.  
  
A gigantic dragon had its tail wrapped around what seemed to be a humanoid bat with Jeri's hair and was trying to crush it with its massive jaws.  
  
"Well I'll be damned." He muttered as he felt the power coming off the Dragon. He didn't like what he was feeling. The thing kept on getting more powerful by the minute and from what he could tell, it didn't seem to have any goodness coming out of it. As though it only existed to destroy.  
  
Not wanting to intrude in the fight just yet (he may like to fight but he didn't feel that suicidal today), he moved through the ruins of the streets and saw a sight he hoped to never see ever since those Tamers taught him to be "a goody-goody".  
  
He saw a boy kneeling on the street next to the body of a dead woman. The kid was just sitting there, his back to Beelzemon, and starring at the fight.  
  
"Damnit kid." Shouted Beelzemon as he made his way to him. "Don't just stand there you got to get out of... Takato?"  
  
Beelzemon stared in shock at the boy. Tears were falling down his cheeks as he stared at the fight with hatred in his eyes. He didn't understand this. This wasn't the boy who had befriended all those months ago; this was a completely different boy. He looked down at the corpse of the woman and sadly realized that this woman was his mother.  
  
"Takato... we have to get you out of here.  
  
"I tried to tell her." Takato suddenly said "I told her to get away but she didn't listen. She died because she didn't want me to get hurt. She died because of me. So I ordered him to kill it."  
  
Beelzemon stared at the dragon who was swiping at the agent who was desperately trying to put some distance between the two.  
  
"Takato...that thing is your partner?" all this time he had a partner and he never knew. "Takato you have got to call it off."  
  
"Why?" snapped Takato. "That thing and all it's creations need to die for what they did. I'll make them pay."  
  
"Takato this is not the way to go." Growled Beelzemon "I've been down that road, it doesn't do a thing."  
  
Takato just stared at him as Megidramon was thrown to the ground, the agent seeing it's opportunity fled.  
  
"I see." Said the Tamer "Then if you're not with me, you're against me. MEGIDRAMON!"  
  
Roaring, the dragon flew up and charged the Demon Lord.  
  
"Shit." Mumbled Beelzemon as he took out his guns and jumped away from the boy. Landing on a bulding he started to slowly walk back as he unleashed his guns fury on the dragon.  
  
"Come on, come on." Muttered the demon as he kept on shooting the dragon, who was protecting itself with its wings. "Just fall down and don't get back up."  
  
Then came the sound he did not want to hear. His guns gave the deadly click of running out of ammo. The dragon moved its wings aside and Beelzemon grimly noticed that it wasn't injured at all.  
  
"This is sooo going to hurt." He mumbled as the dragon charged him. He really had to stop listening to Terriermon.  
  
*****  
  
Impmon was pacing on the park bench. His visit with Takato came out more disturbing then he would've imagined.  
  
"This had better be worth it this time." Said Renamon as she fazed in front of him. Not seeing a reaction out of him as she usually did when she appeared in front of him, the kitsune knew that something was wrong.  
  
Getting straight to the point, Impmon said "Okay foxy, the reason why I called you here is because you're the only one who pays a bit of attention at your surroundings."  
  
"What does this have to do with this Takato?" she asked  
  
"My point is, you remember your time in the digital world? You remember how there was this prophecy about a human appearing with a D-Arc as black as night with red symbols on it?"  
  
"Yes, according to some, that human was supposed to appear years ago to help defeat a great evil. They also say he would hold great power that could surpass the sovereigns if it was released." Said Renamon. She froze and stared at the frowning Imp. "This Takato... he has it doesn't he?" at the slow nod from Impmon, her eyes widened. "You're not telling me that he is..."  
  
"Yes I am." Said Impmon "Takato is the Fallen Tamer."  
  
A\N okay enough for now. Sorry if this chapter wasn't as good but I was tired and wanted to get this one up. Besides, all these ideas in my head were confusing me so I had to... improvise. See ya. 


	4. Sketches

Me: Okay I'm back and ready to rumble.  
  
Terriermon: Yeah, yeah, whatever. By the way your fridge is destroyed.  
  
Me: Oh boy... Do I dare ask?  
  
Terriermon: Guilmon thought he saw a rat.  
  
Me: I have got to get you back to your respective tamer.  
  
Terriermon: sorry, said one too many insults so he kicked me out for a while.  
  
Me: oh...great. Anyway, I apologize too all those who've been waiting for this chapter to be posted. I'm sorry for the wait but I have been busy with school work, writer's block and extreme laziness.  
  
Terriermon: No kidding, you make Kazu look good.  
  
Me: (plants his face into the floor) Anyway, thanks too all those who reviewed the last chapter. And too Omnicron, I'll keep your suggestions in mind. But just so everyone gets this straight: I only watched the show. I barely pay attention to the cards and the Japanese version of the show. So all those who believe I should be filled in when it comes to H-type Digimon and the lot, feel free to e-mail me. And if I put a Digimon who has a weak attack in the cards but is strong in the story, bare with me cause I really don't know anything about the cards. And also, I got the idea for the beginning of the chapter from a comic I read, I do not own the idea or some of the writing so those who recognize it, I have not taken it as mine, I just borrowed it.  
  
Terriermon: you borrow everything.  
  
Me: like what?  
  
Terriermon: Me.  
  
Me: I am not going to bother responding to that. Now this note is important: To all those who might be confused, I will not put any of the flashbacks in a specific order, because I either don't know how to write them or it's planned that way, I plan to put a minimum of two flashbacks per chapter to slowly fill you in about Takato's past. Now onward to my destiny.  
  
Terriermon: Writing?  
  
Me: My Xbox.  
  
Sketches  
  
If a man is standing in the middle of the forest speaking and there is no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong? -No idea who said this, but I  
like it  
  
Not so long ago in a country not so far away, a war raged between creator and creation. Between human and Digimon.  
  
Between the guardians of our world and the servants of destruction.  
  
A proud and noble tradition passed into the charge of a new generation.  
  
Steadfast Alliances were formed in the crucible of war in the Dark Heart of the Digital World.  
  
Tiny islands of courage in a vast ocean of fear, like points of sparkling incandescence piercing a suffocating black shroud.  
  
Destinies fulfilled.  
  
Destinies unfolding.  
  
Events inexorably drawn to a linchpin in time to a temporal fulcrum on which a specific future rises.  
  
A future birthed in one white-hot blinding moment.  
  
A future made, event by event, link by link, a living chain of action, reaction... and change.  
  
Alter one event and a new future comes to be.  
  
Splinter a link and a new chain is forged.  
  
*****  
  
"Look boy" said Takato gently. "I know you want to come with me but I don't think anyone will accept the fact that Digimon exist. If they see you they might freak out and call the cops or something like that. So please stay here for today, do not come looking for me and do not leave from this place until I am home."  
  
"But Takatomon..." whined Guilmon as he sat down, disappointed..  
  
"I'm sorry, we'll play once I get home." Lifting the bags he deposited as soon as he entered the alley, he patted it a bit and gave Guilmon one last look "I left some food for you in here, try not to eat it all in one...hey, hey, HEYYYYYYY..." jumping on Guilmon, Takato tried to push him away from the half devoured bag of bread. "Look, save some for the day and I'll give you more once we're home."  
  
"Fine." Said Guilmon as he looked to the ground.  
  
"I'll see you later Guilmon, and remember stay here." Said Takato as he started running to school.  
  
Several hours later, Guilmon was pacing around his small space. Never, in the two days that he existed, has he been this bored. Yawning, he sat down and his head shot up in surprise when he saw the bakery's side door open.  
  
Wondering whether he should run, he quickly made up his mind and stayed put. He was going to listen to Takato no matter what, besides he didn't want his new friend mad at him.  
  
Whistling, Takeshiro Matsuki dragged the garbage bag out the door and tossed it into the garbage can. The day was going well, the birds chirping, the business booming, the monster staring at him... monster?  
  
With a shout, Takeshiro jumped back and grabbed the nearest object to hold between him and Guilmon. Of course the lid of a garbage can isn't as affective as it used to be... come to think of it, it's never been affective.  
  
Tilting his head sideways, Guilmon looked at the strange human who seemed to be trying to play hide and seek with him. Well it seems that this human has never played that game before because that was one of the worst hiding spots it's seen. Moving forwards, it jumped and grabbed onto Takeshiro's leg causing him to scream and try to throw it off. Although due to Guilmon's size and weight, Takeshiro lost his balance and fell on his back with a heavy grunt.  
  
"Please get off me, don't hurt me... please I've got a wife and kid." He said after he got his bearings back, inching away from Guilmon.  
  
Confused at what he was talking about, Guilmon was trying to think of what he should make of all this...gibberish when a familiar scent made him perk up.  
  
Sitting next to him, Guilmon asked "Why do you smell like Takato?"  
  
That question caught Takeshiro off guard. He looked up at him and after several tries to form words he finally managed to speak out weakly "How do you know my son?"  
  
"He's my best friend." Chirped Guilmon as he tilted his head to the side and twisted his face in an attempt to smile.  
  
"Best friend? Since when?" asked Takeshiro, still wary but more relieved to know that this creature seemed to be of a peaceful nature. "Then again, what are you?"  
  
"I'm a Digimon." Said Guilmon, and then attempted to frown "At least that's what Takatomon says I am. I suppose I should believe him since he is the one who made me."  
  
"Made...you?" asked Takeshiro.  
  
"Yep, he told me to stay here until he's back from that evil place."  
  
"Evil place?"  
  
"Yep, that place he calls school where he has to go to everyday."  
  
"Takato calls that an evil place?" asked Takeshiro, a sweatdrop forming on the side of his head. 'It figures, Takato created him and is bound to corrupt him to his ways. Evil place my foot.'  
  
"Alright, uh... what's your name?"  
  
"Guilmon" he chirped.  
  
"Alright Guilmon." He signed "You'd better come in" 'Mie is going to kill me.'  
  
*****  
  
"Takato? Takato? MATSUKI!!!" With a start, Takato jumped out of his daydream and looked up at his History teacher, a look of amusement on his face.  
  
"Uh... yes sir?"  
  
"Glad you can join us kid, now usually I don't mind people not paying attention during the class, I get paid either way, but usually people perk up when their name is called. You may ignore my lectures, but you shall not ignore my question alright? Good now where was I?"  
  
Sweatdroping at what his teacher told him, Takato grabbed his pen and started to jot down notes. After a few minutes of listening, writing down, and stifling yawns, his teacher turned on a video to further explain the lesson. Not bothering to pay attention to it, Takato looked around the class.  
  
He smirked as he found the druggies staring at the blackboard and chuckling from time to time, one of the cheerleaders was talking quietly on her phone until the teacher grabbed it out of her hand spoke "she'll call you back" into it and turned it off.  
  
Rolling his eyes, he continued his "inspection" of the class and laid his eyes on Rika. She seemed to be half asleep from the way she kept on nodding her head. Plus her hair wasn't in her usually tame ponytail; it looked more as though she had a go with some Digimon and forgot to tidy herself.  
  
An image popped up in his head and he quickly forced it away. That was sick and wrong. Ugh, damn hormones, unwanted thoughts keep on pooping in and out of your head. Crossbreeding, yeesh. Even Rika isn't that odd although he wouldn't put it passed Kazu...no, no, no, do not continue that train of thought.  
  
Forcing the thoughts of crossbreeding out of his head, along with the very tempting thoughts of mentally undressing Rika, he took out his sketchbook and started to sketch the first thing that came to mind.  
  
Rika managed to push away the tempting thoughts of falling asleep then and there, instead she focused on anything that would keep her attention, the video was dull, she did not care to listen to the girl's gossip about Ryo (she had had enough of that in the first year after the D-Reaper's defeat), the druggies were people she ignored all the time, the jocks were amusing but she didn't want to give them any ideas if they caught her looking at them, the teacher was busy grading their tests, the last one standing (or sitting but you get the picture) was Takato.  
  
The desks were formed in a semi circle in the classroom and since Takato was sitting directly across from her, it was easy to observe him without being found out.  
  
That had been bothering her for a few weeks now. She sometimes caught herself looking at him. Damn it, what was so interesting about him. Sure there was an air of mystery and sadness around him that the girls liked to sigh and giggle about. Honestly, what's so romantic about a guy who locked his emotions up tight after his mother's death? The girls act as though he'll suddenly change if he managed to 'fall for them'. She wanted to gag at that. That only happens in the case of books and very corny movies. Sure she liked reading them now and then, but actually seeing that disgusts her more than Kazu's flirting ever could... actually Kazu's flirting is still at the top of her disgusting list.  
  
But she knew for a fact that it takes a while for someone to show their real self... of course she also noticed that some people just wanted someone to connect with. That more or less screwed them over in the end. Not something that happened to her, thank god, but from observation.  
  
So why was she starring at him a lot? Sure he was involved somewhat in the D-Reaper incident, was around at the oddest time when their was a Digimon attack (although no matter how suspicious she was and how carefully she checked, she never found proof of him being a Tamer), and he was cute. She frowned a bit at that thought, not at the fact that she thought him cute but at the fact that 4 years ago she would've been disgusted at herself for finding someone cute.  
  
And why the hell does he keep staring at her? Every few minutes he quickly looks up at her and looks back down as though nothing happened.  
  
Ah yes, she thought as she sent a small glare at his head, he had a tendency to keep secrets that for some reason intrigued her.  
  
What the hell? Is he sketching? Noticing that he had one his sketchbooks out, she realized that he was sketching something and every so often looked up at her before returning to his work. Then she realized she hadn't moved from her position since the video started, before she could wonder how the hell she could stay in that position that long and come to quick conclusions of what Takato was sketching, the bell rang and Takato was out the door within seconds. 10 seconds later he came running back to get his bag.  
  
*****  
  
Yamaki stood staring at the remains of the eastern part of Shinjuku, clicking his lighter on and off repeatedly. He did not know what was going on, but shortly after losing contact with Beelzemon, that part of the city started to be destroyed. And if from what he knew of Beelzemon's past, he was positive that he was behind it.  
  
"So are you going to fill us in on this or what?" said the annoyed voice of one Rika Nonaka. "Just tell us who's behind all of that and we'll go in and kick its ass."  
  
Yamaki gave her a grim smile "I'm surprised you're in such a hurry to go in there Nonaka. Whatever is out there, it's giving Beelzemon a hard time. And you should know that whatever Beelzemon finds troublesome, it's deadly for you."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I heard it before. Give me a break; we've managed to defeat all the different agents the D-Reaper had so far, how bad can this one be?"  
  
"It's no agent. From what Aie and Moko managed to get from Beelzemon's statistics, it's one big Digimon."  
  
Raising an eyebrow, Rika stared at him. How the hell could a Digimon get through at a time like this? The D-Reaper would've deleted it before it had the chance to pass on to the real world. Then again, nothing seemed to be normal these days.  
  
Looking to Jeri, the other Tamer left behind, she gave her a questioning glance before being dragged out of her thoughts by Elecmon suddenly screaming "Incoming!"  
  
Quickly looking up to the sky, she only had the time to see something red before Renamon tackled her to the side as it came crashing down.  
  
Shaking her head, she slowly got up and her eyes widened when she saw a red... glider of some sort.  
  
"Hey isn't that the thing that knight rides?" asked Jeri as she moved to examine it.  
  
"So it came back." Yamaki grumbled, dusting his clothes off.  
  
"It doesn't look in good shape." Remarked Renamon. As if to prove her point, the glider started to fade in and out.  
  
"Nothing we can do about it." Said Yamaki coldly, not bothering to hide his disgust for the creature. The Tamers may be their only hope, but that still didn't mean he liked Digimon.  
  
To Rika's surprise, the glider stabled itself and flew off into the direction from where it came.  
  
"Well," sighed Rika as she grabbed her D-Arc. "Looks like we're following it."  
  
"And why's that?" asked Yamaki.  
  
"Because it's heading in the direction of that disturbance. We follow it, we find the disturbance. We find the disturbance, we kick its ass. Simple as that." Replied Rika as she looked at Renamon, then at Jeri.  
  
BIOMERGE ACTIVATE WARP DIGIVOLUTION ACTIVATE  
  
*****  
  
"Nonaka!" Rika snapped to attention as she heard her law teacher yelling her name. Sitting up straight, she groaned as she saw her teacher glaring at her, a few of the students chuckling a bit at the sight, others wisely ignoring the situation. "Well now that Miss Nonaka has taken time out of her busy schedule to join the class, we may resume. And Nonaka, do pay attention this time."  
  
Yawning, Rika struggled to pay attention to what her teacher was saying. She barely got any sleep last night and it didn't help her one bit. She barely stayed awake in her morning classes, slept through lunch, which didn't help one bit since she was now tired and hungry, barely stayed awake in her Gym and History class, fell asleep in her business class, and now was on the verge of falling off her chair. God damn you Kenta. Next time he has to tell her some news, it will be during the day if he wants to live.  
  
Of course there was that interesting moment in history where she was positive that Takato was drawing her. Of course when she's tired she tended to have a short attention span on everything. So by the time she got to Law, Migdail's boring lecture had her asleep in no time. However now she was half asleep and could pay some attention to what was going on.  
  
Wiping the tears out of her eyes, and shaking her head to try to wake herself up, she stared dully at the blackboard as her teacher drowned on about something or another. Oh yeah, a complete waste of her time. She would have gotten more work done if she stayed at home. Knowing that she couldn't get back to sleep with her teacher staring at her every few minutes, she grabbed her bag and took a book out. If she wasn't going to get any sleep or learn anything, she might as well try to read something.  
  
Staring at a page for several minutes, she groaned in defeat. So she wasn't able to read either, might as well see what's going on. Ah the perks about being at the back of the class. Too bad Mr. Sourpuss up there knows how a student thinks. Sit at the back of the class, most likely to fall asleep.  
  
Looking around the class, she noticed several of the students zoned out, a few swaying in their seats, about to fall asleep, one was playing a video game beneath his desk, and finally, she noticed Takato a few seats to her right drawing in his sketch book. His book was positioned in his notebook so that it would look as though he was taking down notes. As if they needed notes. They could just check the book out later.  
  
As though feeling her eyes on him, he looked to his left and caught Rika looking at him. As soon as it happened he quickly looked away, going back to his sketchbook to continue whatever he was drawing. Of course he failed miserably at trying to hide the fact that he was staring at her every few minutes.  
  
"Matsuki!" shouted her teacher once again. Damn that's the third student this class, he must be having a good day.  
  
Takato quickly looked up and seeing Mr. Migdail approach him...okay stomp towards him, he tried to move his sketchbook off the table. Alas, the years have not completely cured the boy of his clumsiness. As soon as he grabbed the book, it slipped out of his hands and fell to the floor.  
  
'Oh Boy.' Thought Rika as Migdail picked up the book. 'Here comes the explosion'  
  
Flipping through the book, Migdail grunted a few times before setting his eyes on a nervous Takato.  
  
"Well Matsuki, it seems that you don't find my course that interesting." He said coldly, and to Takato displeasure, the gleam entered his eyes. The gleam usually showed up when he was enjoying what he was about to do to the student. "So you signed up for this course and haven't done a thing all this time. May I remind you, class that you are graduating this year? There is no longer any reason for you to act so foolishly."  
  
"But sir..." started Takato.  
  
"Shut it Matsuki." Snapped Migdail "I'll be confiscating this thing for the time being."  
  
"But sir, that's unfair." Shouted Takato, getting angry.  
  
"What was that Matsuki? Are you speaking back to me?" Takato slowly nodded and the gleam in Migdail's eyes intensified. "Congratulations boy, you just gained yourself a detention after class."  
  
Rika rolled her eyes. Takato was one of the best students in the class. He always did what he was told and never bothered anyone. Migdail was just some prick who likes to pick on people, namely the Tamers.  
  
"And Nonaka, you can join him." Said Migdail as he walked back to the front of the class.  
  
Rika's eyes widened. "What? What for?"  
  
Not looking up from his book, he replied "For sleeping in my class, mocking my antics, yes I saw you roll your eyes, reading a book instead of paying attention, and raising your voice at me. Plus I don't like you. Now back to the lesson."  
  
Rika didn't bother hiding her seething. That guy is damn lucky he's good friends with the Super Attendant and has some friends in high places (how, she'll never be fully sure) because if he was anyone else she would have made sure he was fired long ago. Either that or she would have asked Impmon to visit him at night.  
  
It was going to be a long few hours.  
  
*****  
  
Okay, she already spent an hour in detention staring at the blackboard, couldn't fall asleep, had nothing to do, Migdail left 15 minutes ago and hadn't returned, and there was an awkward silence in the room, the only noise was when Takato shifted in his seat.  
  
Sighing in frustration, she decided to risk an awkward conversation instead of staying quiet until she went crazy.  
  
"So you okay?" she asked him.  
  
Snapping his head up, he looked at her before looking away and muttering "I'm fine."  
  
Determined to at least get something out of him she continued "Well I'm surprised Migdail picked on you so harshly, usually he keeps his hate for the Tamers."  
  
Her curiosity rose as she noticed that he turned paler when she said that.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked softly.  
  
"I mean that usually he keeps his grudges on anyone who is seen to have a Digimon partner." She smirked inwardly as he started to sweat a bit. So, there might be some truth to her suspicions after all. Ah Takato, you might cover your traces well but your reactions betray you.  
  
Oh she had no idea how right she was going to be in a few minutes, but let's continue shall we?  
  
"So, what were you drawing in class?"  
  
"Oh... just something I was inspired to sketch." He mumbled as he made an effort to not look at her.  
  
"Uh huh, care to have it back?" she asked as she got up and moved behind Migdail's desk. Hey, if she wanted to see if she was right she might as well get on friendly terms with the guy. After all there's only so long a kid can stay in her "Ice Queen" routine. She got out of that faze at the beginning of High School. Of course she was stronger than the general female population in both strength and will.  
  
"What? But he locked it in his drawer."  
  
"I know that." She said distractedly as she took a hair pin out of her hair and started to pick the lock, within a few minutes it unlocked and she opened it with a smirk of triumph. "See? Simple as that."  
  
"How... where did you learn to do that?" asked Takato as he got up and moved to the front of the desk.  
  
"What? Oh, well you heard me say that I'd beat Ryo in his sleep whenever he pissed me off?"  
  
"Yeah but what does that have to do with this?" asked Takato as he scratched his head, looking around nervously in case Migdail suddenly returned.  
  
The side of her lip curved up in an amused and secretive way "How do you think I got into his house?"  
  
Takato spent a few seconds letting what she said sink in and when it finally did, another mental picture he could have done without popped up. Shaking his head slightly he stuttered "What? You mean you...and him... you..."  
  
Rika raised an eyebrow at him, knowing what he was trying to say. Well she sure as hell wasn't going to answer him unless he actually asked it. "Yes, I went up to his room and beat him up."  
  
Takato shook his head a bit, looked at her in a way she couldn't identify and muttered "I'll shut up now." And went to sit down at one of the desks.  
  
Shrugging at his behavior, she grabbed his sketchbook and seeing that he was off in his own little world, she decided to have a peak.  
  
Opening it, she started to flip through it. He was a better artist then she thought. There was the school, a sketch of the park, some students, the Tamers when they were in their first year of high school, she liked the one where it showed her having Ryo in a head lock, she was surprised that he managed to get one of Renamon since she barely ever shows herself in public.  
  
'Well, well Takato." She thought as she eyed him over the book 'There's a lot more to you than I first thought.'  
  
Moving on, she saw more pictures of Shinjuku, students, more of the Tamers, her trying to kill Terriermon, Kazu being whacked by Kenta, and she found the unfinished sketch he was drawing, and was only slightly proud of knowing that he drew her. She was more surprised at how well he did it.  
  
From the messed up hair, to her bangs covering her face, to her dazed eyes, to the one stray hair at the top of her head, to the shape of her breasts (which she noticed that he seemed to have worked especially hard on that part), and part of her arms.  
  
Takato snapped out of his daze and looked at her and inwardly started to curse when he saw what she was looking at. Usually he wouldn't mind but there was that one picture in there that would give away more than he would like. He quickly jumped off the desk and quickly made his way to her.  
  
Rika moved to the last page and her eyes widened as she saw the red Digimon from the previous day. It was an old drawing since the sketching wasn't that good but it was it nevertheless. She failed to notice the statistics and the data of the Digimon before she looked up.  
  
"Takato how did you..." she was cut off as Takato quickly tried to grab the book out of her hands but due to his clumsy nature, his foot caught on one of the desks legs and he fell forward taking Rika with him.  
  
When he regained his breath he noticed a few odd things. One, he wasn't lying completely on the cold floor.  
  
Two, his face was lying on something soft...no, between two soft things.  
  
Now usually when a male gets into this kind of thing they panic and quickly move away.  
  
However in Takato's case, due to his naïve nature and lack of experience in... sensitive situations with females, he didn't move.  
  
Instead he brought a finger up and poked the object his head was laying on a few times, praying that it wasn't who he thought it was, then he could feel someone staring at him. Slowly, ever so slowly, he moved his head up, noticing how his face pressed against the "objects" with some... excitement although he didn't know why, and met the gaze of a very pissed of Rika.  
  
Now Rika, didn't know what happened when Takato fell on her but when she got her bearing she noticed that Takato's face was laying between her breasts.  
  
Okay, she was ticked but she would let it pass since he would quickly move away and apologize... any minute now...  
  
Instead he slowly brought his finger up and started to poke her breasts. Taking in a sharp breath, Rika tried not to think of her reaction to what he was doing and started to glare at him. Before she could yell at him, he seemed to sense her irritation and slowly looked up. She was going to pretend that he did NOT just nuzzle her breasts. Christ she did not want to feel this shit right now.  
  
Once he saw her face, he yelped and moved to get off her. Of course it seems our dear Takato wasn't able to think straight and grabbed her breast to push off her. Realizing what he was doing, he yelped and lost his footing once more and fell on her again, a certain appendage sticking in between her legs.  
  
Seeing...okay feeling his reaction to the situation and his "unwillingness" to get off, she shoved him off her hard.  
  
Gulping he started to crawl back as Rika advanced on him, cracking her knuckles.  
  
"Look Rika, it was an accident, I wasn't thinking..."  
  
"Too little too late you fucking pervert."  
  
"Rika don't..."  
  
POW  
  
*****  
  
"Sir." Said a man wearing a scientist's jacket as he approached a desk full with documents. Sitting behind it was a middle aged man dressed in a military officer's uniform who was scanning through them before tossing them aside.  
  
"What?"  
  
"The project is almost ready."  
  
"Have you tracked the Tamers?"  
  
"Yes, we've found approximately 25 Tamers in total in The United States, Britain, France, Russia, and Japan."  
  
"How many in each country?" he asked coldly as the doctor gave him a briefcase full of folders.  
  
"3 in France, 6 in Russia, 2 in the US, 4 in Great Britain, and 10 in Japan."  
  
"10? I thought there were 9."  
  
"We thought so too sir, but our agent in Shinjuku has studied the last one carefully and has succeeded in discovering the truth about him."  
  
"Hmmm." He pointed at certain areas of a map lying on his desk. "Get our men in those areas on it immediately. Except for those in Japan. I want to have the pleasure of leading the assault on them myself." He stood up and walked towards the door.  
  
"Where are you going sir?"  
  
"To the Asylum, I need to get some last information from an old friend."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
As the doctor walked back to his lab, he opened it and yelled out "Okay guys, we can go home early, the boss has just left."  
  
"Where did he go?" asked one of the scientists.  
  
"He went to visit Yamaki." 


	5. A good ol' Woopin'

Me: Okay, after about four painfully long months I have finally returned to bring much pain and sorrow to your lives.

Terriermon: Uh dude... this is a story not school.

Me: Oh...my bad. After about four painfully long months I have returned to try to bring you entertainment and to torture rabbits.

Terriermon: still not good enough

Me: Oh shut up. Anyway I apologize for the rather long delay but I've been busy these past few months with track and field races, school work and exams. (Eye twitches at the sound of that) I also did the mistake of not planning how the hell I was going to write this story so I've been suffering for a while on how I'd write this, so bare with me. And also it is the summer break, probably one of the last I'll ever get to truly enjoy my freedom so bare with me if this isn't number one on my priority list. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews and a huge thanks to OmnicronXR for giving me a list of Digimon I could use, and as for things that may seem a bit off you must remember: this is an AU and I haven't seen the show in a VERY long time so bare with me please. And as for the Parasimon incident, I never saw it, and don't understand it so I am not going to make any mention of it in this story. And some things like some agents being around when the D-Reaper is destroyed does seem wrong but I need this to suit a part of the story otherwise it won't make much sense. And as for the way it shows up, I have Microsoft Word and all the Italics, bold and underline crap doesn't show up. If anyone can help me with that, it'll be greatly appreciated. Now what else have I forgotten to mention?

Terriermon: That you're insane and Rika wants to kill you?

Me: They already know that. Hmmm ah yes, I will need a guest appearance from someone in a chapter to come so if you want to be chosen leave a review but your Digimon must be a very small Rookie. Now, if I forgot something, I'll mention it next chapter, now onward. Oh yeah and just as a warning: I am very bad at describing things so bare with me. And one question: Do the Japanese celebrate Halloween?

**A good ol' Woopin'**

"Take away a man's life, books, music, and basically everything that distracts him and you leave him with only himself and his thoughts and that is the worst punishment you can give anyone"-_The Suffering_

Takeshiro stared down the hall of the hospital. Everywhere he looked he could see and hear people screaming, crying and see them dying. Every hour more people who were caught in the attack, launched by the D-Reaper, were brought in. Some were bruised and had other minor injuries, others looking that they'd be lucky to survive the night.

He didn't look much better mind you. Oh he wasn't injured but the dark shadows around his eyes and the redness in his eyes showed that something was definitely wrong. How long was it since he last slept properly? Two days? Four days? A week? It seemed much longer than that.

The D-Reaper was destroyed that long ago and it seemed that they were just getting rid of the last of the agents that had escaped from the D-Reaper's destruction. Lot of good that did. His wife was dead, his son was in critical, he lost his bakery and he didn't have much money to take care of both himself and his son. The boy also needed someone stable who could comfort him and take care of him in his time of grief.

Sighing heavily and running a hand through his hair, he made his way to the room where they kept his son. He looked pretty bad. His once tan face was now ghostly pale and his face was wrapped in far too many bandages to his liking. His arm and leg was broken, his other arm dislocated, a few broken ribs and a fractured nose. All in all, he didn't look that different from a mummy. The worst part was that Guilmon disappeared and there has been no sign of him anywhere.

Turning away, he started to make his way towards the exit when a soft voice called his name and made him stop. Turning around he gazed at an elderly woman whose hair was starting to turn grey. Her usual cheerfull demeanor was replaced by a haunted and tired look.

"Hi mom." He said quietly, unable to look at her in the eye.

"Takeshiro look at me." She ordered. When he made no move to look at her directly, she grabbed his chin and forced his head up so he was looking at her. "Takeshiro, don't do this to him. He needs you now more then ever."

Shaking out of her grip, Takeshiro moved away from her and leant on a wall trying to regain control of his emotions. Another patient was rolled in, screaming in agony as the paramedics made an effort to dress the bloody stump where his arm used to be.

"I...I can't stay mom" he said quietly, his unshed tears threatening to spill out "I just can't stay."

A hand was placed on his shoulder "You've been strong your entire life. Takato inherited that from you but he's still just a child. If you're there for him you will eventually be able to get through this grief. If you leave him now, Takato may never recuperate."

This time he couldn't hold them back. With a sob he turned around and enveloped his mother in a desperate hug, crying on her shoulder.

"I... I can't take care of him." He managed to say after some time "I barely have enough money to take care of myself, how do you think I can take care of him? No, he needs to be raised in a good home."

Moving away from her he started to make his way towards the exit.

"Don't cut yourself away from his life." She shouted "Don't isolate him."

Stopping, he hesitated for a bit and turned around "I'll write him and try to visit whenever I can and when I'm financially secure and can take care of him, I'll come back for him. Until then please take care of him for me."

With that said, Takeshiro Matsuki quickly made his way out of the hospital.

A week later Mrs. Matsuki was trying desperately to comfort a crying boy who had now lost all hope.

With a pained groan, Takato slowly opened his eyes and gazed at a white ceiling. Now usually he wouldn't care about that but as soon as the scent of medicinal alcohol and other disinfectants reached his nose, he immediately started to panic.

He quickly started to check himself to see if anything was wrong. Arms? Working. Legs? Couldn't be better aside from the occasional muscular twitching. Ribs? In no shape to be eaten, in other words: Check.

Seeming as everything seemed all right, he quickly sat up and then regretted it as pain flashed through his head, causing him to clutch it and then yelp as his hand came across some swelling beneath his right eye.

"I wouldn't move to quickly if I were you." Said a pleasant voice who, as always, kept telling the obvious a tad too late.

Turning around, he glared in annoyance at Henry who was comfortably sitting on a chair next to the infirmary bed.

"Hey, hey, don't kill the messenger." He laughed

"What messenger?" piped Terriermon who jumped off a nearby cabinet and landed on Takato's head, causing him to flinch and try unsuccessfully to hold back a pained groan. "All you did was drag him here after Rika KOed him."

"Figure of speech, Terriermon, now would you get off his head? I highly doubt he appreciates the gesture right now."

"Spoil sport." The mutated rabbit then hopped off his prey's head and landed at the foot of the bed.

Shaking his head, Takato muttered his thanks and slowly made his way out of the bed.

"Easy there" Said Henry as he held him while he tried to regain his balance. "Rika did quite a number on you; I don't think you're quite ready to go hopping around."

"A number? HA! All she did was punch him and he fell unconscious."

"Terriermon!" warned Henry with an irritated look, he then turned back to Takato. "Don't worry, he exaggerates a lot, you're head just rebounded off the teacher's desk and that was good enough to get you out... why did she hit you anyway?"

His only answer was the reddening cheeks of Takato. "Oh...I get the feeling I don't want to know."

"Like hell I don't." said Terriermon with a gleam in his eyes that Henry had come to fear over the years. "Come on kid, what ya do? Did you feel her up? Try to ask her out? Think you could have your way with her. I know I bet you thought she was offering herself to you."

"Huh....what? NO!!" shouted Takato, his face getting even redder "I'm not like that...I mean I like girls but I wouldn't do that unless I was sure she wouldn't mind but..." It was then figured out that he was just digging a bigger grave for himself so he shut up. Besides, at a time like this he really didn't need to think of a female, like let's say a female with a highly suggestive body as...Rika, in a compromising situation like that. No, he preferred to have a short leg if you get my drift...okay too much information, I'll shut up now.

Before Terriermon could drill any more... juicy info for his rather perverted rabbit mind, Henry covered his mouth and helped Takato out of the infirmary.

"Speaking of Rika, where is she anyway?" softly asked Takato.

"Oh, well as soon as I came by and saw you out of it, she helped me drag you to the infirmary, you should be thankful for that since she rarely helps anyone bring her handiwork there, but as soon as the nurse saw your state, she sent her to the principal's office. The rest is unknown to me." They slowly made their way out of school chatting about random stuff. As much as Takato wanted to leave, he found himself enjoying the company. After all, it was one of the few times where he had a conversation that lasted over two minutes. They made their way into the park when a thought crossed his mind.

"One more thing, school was over, why the hell were you still there?"

"Kendo practice...and Terriermon disappeared on me again and I spent twenty minutes looking for him."

"Oh." Then what truly caused the incident came back to him and he quickly opened his bag looking for his sketchbook. Fighting back panic, he turned to Henry. "She didn't by any chance...have a small, used up, black sketchbook with her did she?"

Henry gave him a puzzled look. "Not that I noticed... however she did pack her things as soon as I got there and looked as though she was going to storm out of there. Why?"

"Nothing...just wondering" muttered Takato as the panic and frustration slowly started to spread through him. He did not need this right now. What the hell did he do in a past life to get such a fucked up life this time?

He figured out that he spoke too soon when a dense fog appeared out of nowhere and consumed the two teens and the mutated rabbit.

The man known as Mugford walked down the silent white halls of his "asylum" followed by two of his men. He always despised going down here, having to deal with all those men and women who were beneath him in every possible way.

He passed a cell whose window showed a woman he knew to once be very charming. However, her youthful twinkle was now gone from her eyes and her skin seemed to be peeling off very slowly, yet another test subject for their experiments. He ignored her lunge towards the window, cursing his soul and uttering language which would have made anyone else either cringe or wonder where she learned those words.

He kept on walking, ignoring her loud curses and threats.

"She's an odd one" said one of his soldiers, forcing out a chuckle to try to lighten the mood "Just the other day she was begging for death and now she's back to threatening us."

Mugford ignored him, focusing on his destination to meet with what could be one of the few men whom he despised above all others.

Opening the door and ordering his soldiers to wait outside and entered the dark room.

In the middle of the room there was a spotlight shining down upon a figure who was sitting in a chair tied up in a straight jacket. His once bright blond hair had now darkened to a dark brown and was now rather long and untidy after all these years trapped inside the cell with no sunlight. His once tanned skin was now ghostly white and when he looked up, a long beard covered his face and his bloodshot eyes glared murder at Mugford.

"General" He rasped out in a low rough voice with some mockery, obvious to the listener that he rarely spoke "They still let you wear that uniform after all that you have done? Oh wait, I'm sorry you abandoned your duty to start this illegal organization so you can feel good about yourself right? So, my lord," he added with a sneer "What occasion is it that has honored me the company of a coward who thinks so highly of himself?"

"Fuck you Yamaki, I'm in no mood for your games. I've come here for information, not to listen to you bitch."

"You want me to stop? As soon as you release me I'll stop you mother fucking dingo bait." Snarled Yamaki who would have lunged at his captor if he was not restrained.

His only response was a punch in the face. While he was shacking off the daze, Mugford grabbed him by the color, forced him up and slammed him against the wall.

"Listen Yamaki, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Now, what do you know about Takato Matsuki?"

"Fuck you" He then proceeded to spit in his face.

Wiping the spit off his face, Mugford glared at him before punching him in the face again. He then proceeded to punch him in the gut and then grabbed his head and kneed it.

Collapsing to the ground, spitting out some blood, Yamaki, after taking a moment to fight back the wave of dizziness, glared at him with extreme hatred.

"Yamaki, we've been through this before" sighed Mugford as he took out a needle and a vial of some clear liquid. "You know that no matter how much you resist, you always end up telling me everything I want. Now, we can do this the easy way," he shook the needle "or we can do this the hard yet more satisfying way for me."

The room was then illuminated by a large spotlight showing off a table with various knives scalpels, pincers and other sharp objects used for various methods of torture. Yamaki immediately tried to shrink into his chair, whether it was because the light was the brightest thing he'd seen in at least 7 months or the fact that he knew what was coming was unknown to Mugford.

"Why wait? Why not just find out all the information now instead of dirtying your hands?" he said, panic starting to enter your voice

"Simple dear Yamaki, I really don't care what happens because your interrogations always depends on how I'm feeling." Yamaki shuddered involuntarily at that, clearly remembering past events. Sometimes When Mugford was in a bad mood he would torture him for hours until he cracked, even then he would still continue until his twisted pleasure was sated.

Picking up the pair of pincers, he gave Yamaki a crazed gleam before slowly making his way toward him, enjoying the look of terror spreading across his prisoner's face. However Mugford's fun would be delayed as a soldier came barging into the room.

Turning and glaring at the person who interrupted his fun he hoped that it would be bad news because he was just itching to kill someone today.

"Sir, we've just had reports that the Tamers from the United States have been captured and have just arrived. The first one's Digimon has been destroyed by Barabamon. However, the other's Digimon couldn't be found and the Tamer has refused to tell us where he is, we are presently about to find out."

Sighing in aggravation at the fact that he won't be able to kill someone just yet, he answered him "Good, have you followed my orders for the Tamers in Shinjuku?"

"Yes sir, we have released Bulbmon."

"Excellent, who has he engaged?"

"The boy known as Henry Wong."

So he's attacking one of the original Tamers eh? This is something he'd have to see for himself.

"Did Bolton download the cameras into his program?"

"I...I think so sir."

Ah you got to love these greedy/corrupted American scientists, thought Mugford. "Lead on soldier." Before he left he turned to Yamaki whose eyes were still trying to adjust to the light "Don't worry Yamaki I'll be back for you." He then left, leaving Yamaki alone with his thoughts.

Henry cursed to himself as he looked around the area enveloped by the digital field. He didn't understand how or why after all these months but he did know that he had a guy with no Digimon with him and he had to make certain that he didn't get hurt... unless he was smart enough to have already run away.

His thoughts were interrupted as the wild Digimon appeared. It was a machine type to say the least. It was shaped as a ball covered in golden metal plating with engraved squares on each piece of metal. At first glance you'd mistake it for a well built Lego set. It had four legs coming out of its body facing forward, backward, left and right. Its head looked as though it could retract back into its body and it had only one arm which had the same golden metal plating as a hand but with a blaster sticking out of it.

"What the hell is this?" asked Terriermon as he stared at it in amusement.

"Bulbmon" said Henry as he read its data off his D-Arc "A Machine Digimon of the Metal Empire family, ultimate level. Its attacks are Mad Pump and Octagon Attack."

"Yeah, yeah, enough with the info give me some juice already so I can blast this Lego wannabe to kingdom come."

"Terriermon..."

"Uh Henry... you don't need me here now do you?"

Henry whipped his head around at Takato who looked on nervously at the enemy Digimon.

"What the hell are you still doing here? Anyone with common sense would've run away by now."

"Mad Pump." An explosion whipped their heads in time to see Terriermon barely dodging a blast that created a new crater for the park; however the shockwave still sent him and the Tamers flying.

"Okay Takato." Mumbled Terriermon dazedly as he recovered from the blast "Feel free to run like a scared little forest elf anytime now." Hearing no answer he turned around to see the boy disappearing into the trees. "HEY, you could've at least waited until I told you that... hehehe, forest elf, gotta write that down."

"Terriermon, I told you not to stay on the internet too long."

"What? I made it up on my own."

"No you didn't, I know damn well were you get your ideas and comments from. Now shut up and fight." He said as He concentrated on summoning a blue card.

"Digi-modify: Matrix Digivolution Activate"

"Terriermon Matrix Digivolve to... Rapidmon"

Replacing the irritating, not to mention perverted, rabbit was the ever so famous irritating, if not perverted, machine rabbit.

"Alright you little pansy time for you to say hello to my little friend: Rapid Fire."

Two missiles were shot at Bulbmon and hit him dead on but when the dust cleared, the Digimon's armor was scratched and dusty but the Digimon itself seemed unfazed and was walking towards the fighting duo in a way that reminded Rapidmon of mechanical spiders, from all those movies he watched, which irritated him to no end.

"Oooookay then... let's try this one more time: Rapid Fire."

Several missiles shot out at him but Bulbmon raised his blaster and shot out a beam of crimson light which destroyed all of the incoming missiles and would've hit Rapidmon if he had not fazed out of sight. He appeared behind Bulbmon and hit him hard with his cannons witch made the Digimon slide a few feet away but left the rabbit in more pain.

"Oh, oh, god damnit that hurt" he complained as he tried unsuccessfully to nurse his canons.

"Rapidmon, you're a machine how the hell can you feel pain?" Shouted Henry.

"Those who created Digimon decided it would be fun to put pain receptors in the machine Digimon." Snarled robo-bunny. "Now shut up and give me some po...ah crap."

He was hit directly in the face by Bulbmon's Mad pump which sent him flying in the air while his body twirled uncontrollably from the blast. He was stopped by a nice pair of trees whose destruction for stopping him from landing any further from the enemy will be remembered for all of eternity.

Anyway, before he could recuperate, Bulbmon's armor started to glow and with the shout of "Octagon Attack" all of the metal platting on his body were shot out like missiles and hit Rapidmon before he could recover.

Rapidmon came flying out, enraged at getting his ass kicked around, and more unnerved that the Digimon hadn't even said a word to them yet like all their previous enemies. Usually he could figure out their weakness while they blabbered on.

"That's it you piece of shit, it's time to die, Tri-Beam"

The attack headed towards Bulbmon, whose armor had regenerated, but the machine just lifted its arm and shot its Mad Pump again which struggled briefly with Rapidmon's attack before sending it back to its owner along with its own attack.

With a cry Rapdimon fazed out of view again and shot at missile from behind Bulbmon, however its head turned 180 degrees and swatted the missile away then proceeded to extend its arm to try to swat Rapidmon, although its target grabbed it and flew higher into the sky, dragging the owner of the arm with in, swung it around a few times as fast as he could and threw it down to the ground below.

Not even waiting to see how the Digimon faired, Rapidmon gave out a cry and started shooting missile after missile down into the area where he threw Bulbmon.

"Rapidmon, stop." Shouted Henry who was overseeing the destruction at a safe enough distance. "If you keep doing that you'll cause more damage to the park than necessary"

Landing, and panting a bit, Rapidmon glared as his partner. "Well excuse me 'master' if I wanted to make sure that it wouldn't get back up again."

"Couldn't you have figured out another way?"

"FIND ANOTHER WAY?" he shouted. "Unless you've noticed, it was easily kicking my ass, it even sent my best attack back at me. So excuse me if I took advantage of the only time I'd get to hit him."

"Yeah well he looks angrier that injured."

"What?" He turned around to see Bulbmon stumbling out of the dust, armor cracked in a few places but the way its eyes glowed showed how angry it is. "Ah crap. Henry...some modify cards would be good right about now."

"Uh...sure. Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed activate, Power activate"

As soon as he felt the first sign of incoming data, Rapidmon charged at it firing both of his canons, the missiles going towards its target faster than usual which Bulbmon responded by firing his Octagon Attack at the missiles, destroying every last one of them, however the distraction was good enough for Rapidmon to get in close and fire his Tri-Beam at point blank range at the Digimon.

The explosion sent both Digimon flying, Bulbmon eventually landing in one of the previously made craters, the other crashing into a few trees.

Slowly getting up and shaking in relief, the robo-bunny forced out a laugh. "See? This guy was no match for the power of my brains and your modify cards. Now next time do me a favor and use them sooner."

"So this is what the commotion was? Man you guys are getting rusty" said a familiar voice whose scorn Rapidmon did not want to deal with right now.

"Hey, Rika." Said Henry. "What took you?"

Rika's mocking frown turned into a scowl "Thanks to that idiot I had to have another talk with the principal about my behavior."

"Why doesn't he just expel you then?" piped in the robotic rabbit

"Shut up rabbit, and I'm not sure."

"One last question, what did the kid do to piss you off so badly, I mean I haven't seen you that murderous since Ryo and I..." seeing the warning glare from both Rika and Renamon, who had just fazed in, that promised retribution here and now if he brought that up again, he decided to stay silent, but his curiosity rose at seeing the deepening scowl and slight blush on her face. However it was gone before he could double check. Curious...

Before Rika could make a reply, a low groan and an explosion caught their attention. Looking at the source of the noise, they saw a battered Bulbmon walking menacingly towards them.

"Oh for fuck's sake, doesn't he stay down?" groaned Rapidmon as he turned his battered form to face the oncoming threat. "Look buddy, aren't you going to give us your life story? Like why you want us dead, why you want to become all powerful, how everyone was mean to you when you were a baby? Come on what kind of a villain are you if you don't do that?"

"One that isn't crazy." Muttered Renamon.

Bulbmon ignored them and continued advancing.

"What the hell? A Bulbmon is giving you this much problem? Damn you're getting rusty."

"You try fighting it then." Snarled Rapidmon "It's a lot stronger than it looks."

"Fine, I'll show you amateurs how this is done. I can beat this guy single handedly." She said knowing what she was getting into, but her resentment towards the rabbit made her do something foolish once again.

"Care to make a wager on that deal?" said Rapidmon

"Guys..." said Henry, looking uneasily at Bulbmon who had stopped 100 yards away from them, as though waiting for them to make the first move "Shouldn't we discuss this some other time?" Renamon was just staying beside Rika, trying hard to ignore the argument and focusing on the enemy.

Seeing Rika's usual 'stay out of this if you don't want me to make your life a living hell' look, he decided to back off.

"What kind of wager?" asked Rika suspiciously, warning bells going off inside her head.

"If you beat him without any help, I'll do what you want. If you don't however, you have to do something of my choice."

Knowing where this is going, Rika immediately declined it.

"Never would have thought the mighty Digimon Queen would be so scared of a bet." He knew he hit a mark when her eyebrow twitched.

As Rapidmon kept on taunting her, in some area not to be disclosed (namely an underground base a few hundred miles outside Shinjuku), Mugford and a few of his scientists were watching the scene through the cameras they had downloaded into Bulbmon.

"Sir..." stated one of the scientists... Croford, Mugford believed they called him. "Why don't we attack them now? They aren't paying attention to us so it is the perfect time to strike."

He didn't answer, only looked on with a look Crawford couldn't understand. Looking at his comrades he saw them give him a warning look. It was well known that Mugford wasn't mentally stable, but with his...unique plans and strategies he was a man no one wanted to mess with, so it was best to not get on his bad side.

After a few minutes of watching the Nonaka girl and the Digimon bicker, Mugford grew tired and waved his hand at one of the scientists, indicating him to make Bulbmon attack his targets.

Before Rika could make a retort to Rapidmon after he somehow made her agree to the bet, Renamon grabbed her and she felt a nauseating pull at her midsection, indicating that Renamon had fazed them out of the area.

Appearing at the base of a tree at lest 50 meters from where they were, they stared at Bulbmon whose armor was regenerating after launching his Octagon Attack at them. However thanks to Renamon's instincts and Rapidmon's speed they managed to get both their respective Tamers out of there. Rapidmon was currently floating in the air, Henry in his arms, while shouting at Bulbmon about the honor of a battle and that was to not attack people while they were discussing a strategy or bickering.

"So watch where you fire those missiles you god damn fucking piece of Lego shit. If you want to use them so badly do us a favor and fire them when the American leaders are in session."

"Terriermon..." stated Henry looking down nervously. "Please don't make the guy angrier than he is because it is a very long way down."

Grumbling about picky Tamers and such things he fazed down to the ground, dropped Henry unceremoniously on the ground and made a beeline towards Bulbmon, readying to fire his rockets.

"Terriermon think about what you're doing" shouted Renamon before Bulbmon, having figured out Rapidmon's hit and run tactics, fired his Mad Pump just before Rapidmon fired his rapid Fire, sending the droid sprawling to Renamon's feet.

"Hey foxy-mon." he said dazedly before slowly getting back up.

"You know, maybe you should take a break and let someone who knows what she's doing take care of him." Muttered Rika getting more and more irritated. First she falls asleep in her class, finds Takato staring at her, figured out that he drew her not once but for quite some time, got detention, found a clue to Megidramon's origin, had Takato grope her, got lectured by the principal, and was convinced into a bet she knows she'll regret later. Did she forget anything? Needless to say, she was not having a good day.

"Hey, I'm not out, I can take him..." His legs buckled and Rapidmon collapsed. "Okay maybe not..."

"God you're hopeless." Muttered Rika as she swiped a blue card. "Digi-Modify: Matrix Digivolution Activate."

"Renamon digivolve to..."

As Renamon prepared to ascend to the Ultimate level, Bulbmon, who was waiting for the Digivolution to finish as any honorable Digimon would, received orders from his master and fired his Mad Pump at Renamon's glowing form, effectively canceling her Digivolution and knocking her out.

Rika was too shocked to act, usually a Digimon waited for Renamon to Digivolve but this was the first time they attacked her in the middle of the transformation.

"Heh." Croaked Rapidmon as he got up "I was wondering when someone would break the code." He lifted his arm and prepared to fire, however whatever energy reserves were keeping him standing after the beating he received, it gave up and he fell face first to the ground, de-digivolving into his battered rookie form.

Henry quickly ran to his partner and picked him up, thinking furiously of any way to get out of this current situation while Rika was crouching next to Renamon, running her D-Arc over her to see how badly damaged she was.

Bulbmon, seeing the major threat taken care of, lifted his gun arm and prepared to shoot his targets.

Henry closed his eyes and waited for the impact, but the sound of a gun firing and not an energy blaster caught his attention. Looking up he saw Bulbmon staring in shock at the stump where his gun used to be. Before it could react, a familiar form landed behind it and cocked a gun at its head.

"Now, what do we have here?" asked Beelzemon, wearing the sadistic grin he usually got when he was about to kill something. "A Lego is giving the ever so famous Tamers a hard time. What is the world coming to?"

"Beelzemon..." started Henry.

"One minute kid, now who sent you? Or did you come here on your own?"

"Beelzemon..."

"But I don't think you were able to, you don't look that smart."

"BEELZEMON"

"What?" he shouted as he glared in frustration at Henry.

"Don't stand so close to him because he can..."

"OCTAGON ATTACK"

The missiles launched from Bulbmon and hit Beelzemon dead on, sending him and the machine flying and making the crater even bigger than it originally was.

After the dust cleared, Bulbmon limped out of the bushes looking as though he just had a go with Zhuqiaomon. One of his legs were missing, its plating was cracked and chipped in a few areas and it's eyes that normally glowed yellow, were now red.

Beelzemon jumped out of the ruin of trees he made and glared furiously at Bulbmon. "Alright you Lego reject, that actually hurt, but I swear before I'm done with you you'll be wishing that they killed you before I got here. DARKNESS CLAW."

The attack hit its mark but Bulbmon barely flinched even when his armor shattered into pieces. It stared at him as the light of Digivolution started to envelop it, but all of a sudden it started to scream in agony, causing everyone to recoil. Beelzemon took a step back in shock, Henry groaned in agony and let go of Terriermon in favor of trying to block out the noise, and Rika stared in fascinated horror at the spectacle.

All of a sudden, as though nothing ever happened, Bulbmon stopped screaming. For a brief moment, it felt free from the force that was controlling it and before it could give the Tamers its thanks, it burst into data.

Beelzemon was so shocked he didn't bother to absorb its data.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Rika after a few seconds of silence

"What in gods fucking cock just happened?" shouted Mugford, anger swelling through him.

The scientists looked at each other nervously before one spoke up "Sir, we tried to warn you, the damage Bulbmon received was too much for it to handle, its system couldn't handle it anymore. No matter how hard we pushed it can't fight deletion."

Standing up and pinning the man against the wall, he continued to shout "You told me that digivolution could heal him."

"S...Sir, we can't force digivolution, it has to happen on its own and Bulbmon was no where near strong enough to survive the power transfer in his current state, that's what killed him."

Growling, Mugford tossed him aside "If I don't get some good news before night fall someone will die and I don't fucking care if it's your worthless hide." He then stormed off towards Yamaki's cell.

Entering, he didn't give his prisoner a chance to insult him before he pinned him to the wall by the throat.

"Now Yamaki, you are going to tell me everything you know about Takato Matuski and Beelzemon, from their strengths to what they do before going to sleep, and I swear to the forces above if you leave anything out I will make sure you're death is as long and painful as I can make it." He then took a hot iron pike from a pot of hot embers and slowly brought it towards Yamaki's chest, completely forgetting of the truth serum.

Takato breathed in relief. He had just got back after getting Guilmon to see Renamon being taken out in the middle of Digivolution and he was afraid that he would have to send Guilmon in. Thankfully Beelzemon showed up when he did.

Presently Rika was helping Renamon up, Terriermon was in Henry's arms, gloating about some bet he won, and Beelzemon was making fun of them for being beaten by an Ultimate so easily.

"Look just call a meeting a Henry's tonight." Snapped Rika after Terriermon said something about finding a very good penalty for her.

"Why my place?"

"Because there is no fucking way Visor boy and Mr. Perfect are coming to my place." Snapped Rika "And we need to discuss about what happened today."

Sighing in frustration, Henry told her that he'd call Kazu and Kenta and left to go patch up Terriermon, Rika and Renamon left soon afterwards.

Beelzemon stayed behind. It seemed to Takato that Beelzemon might have seen or heard something so he thought it best that he and Guilmon left.

Seeming to understand the need for silence, Guilmon stayed silent and imitated Takato in silently moving away, he even tried to tiptoe until Takato told him to stop.

Just when he thought they were at a good enough distance, Beelzemon's tail flew out and hit Guilmon in the chest, sending him sprawling.

He slowly came out of the woods and pointed one of his guns at Guilmon.

"This time you're not getting away." He growled.

AN Would have put more but figured you waited long enough. And as for the honor thing with Digivolving, think about it, they had plenty of chances to attack when a Digimon is Digivolving but they never did, the only exception is Diaboromon but he was literally a Virus. So it speaks for itself, it's gotta be some sort of code of honor. Remember, the offer for one self insert still stands.


	6. Is that more Plot thickening I smell? No...

Me: Yeah, yeah I know it's been a while but I have been suffering from writer's block for a while and the fact that I'm lazy doesn't help matters either…and the fact that I'm actually getting a social life is also a good point.

Terriermon: Let's not forget school, the video games…

Me: hehe…point taken

Terriermon: …and the Internet surfing, more video games and…

Me: (stomps on his head) point taken. Anyway, another huge thanks to OmnicronXR for the info he's given me…still confused but it does help. And to those who aren't quite happy with some of the stuff I've written, remember: I am not those fanatics that do all their research for this, I only vaguely know what I'm doing (that and I'm only doing this for the fun of it), and my writing style is vastly inferior to a lot of other writers out there, so don't get too excited, kind of like how excited I was for Halo2…lousy ending…

Terriermon: Ignore him, he gets overly dramatic when it comes to video games… no wonder he can't get a girlfriend

Me: I'm going to ignore that, rabbit. Anyway, I am running out of things to say, and if you're looking for a disclaimer, forget it. It is fairly obvious by now who owns it and who doesn't so if you think of sewing well…I have my good friend Mr Sledgehammer (an improved version of Akane Tendo's mallet) waiting to meet you. And damnit, this story is becoming a bigger pain to write whenever I think about it. Oh and if anyone actually knows Megidramon's power level and he seems stronger than he's supposed to be, here's a reason: I like big apocalyptic dragons. Now back to work.

**Chapter 6**

**Is that Plot thickening I smell?… No that would be burning Wood**

"_I know what you're thinking, and it's crazy" –Cortana_

"_So? Stay here" –Master Chief Petty Officer, Spartan 117_

"_Unfortunately for both of us, I like crazy" –Cortana, Halo 2_

Before Beelzemon could recover from the blow he received from that damned tail, another Megido Flare was launched at him. With a pained grunt, he jumped out of the way, the attack cleanly missing him, however the shockwave still sent him sprawling.

Slowly getting up, and shaking his head in a desperate attempt to get rid of the stars filling his vision, he looked around for anything that could give him some sort of advantage against that monster. His guns hadn't worked, his claws hadn't worked, hell he tried bashing it over the head with a lamppost and it still didn't work. Right now he was running out of options and his lifespan didn't seem like it was going to last much longer.

He had no idea where and when Takato had gotten a Digimon partner, or how the hell he hid something that big, all he knew is that 10 minutes into a fight and he was already getting his ass kicked. It was Zhuqiaomon all over again.

Growling, he jumped away from another of Megidramon's tail swipes only to be hit hard by his claws, sending him flying through yet another building. That had to be at least the 3rd one in the past 5 minutes.

Wheezing for air, Beelzemon slowly got to his knees, his instincts screaming at him to run, however he couldn't seem to find the energy he needed to run, much less stand up.

Before he knew what happened, he was quickly snatched up by the dragon's tail, and brought up to stare at the opening of its mouth. Those teeth did not look pleasant whatsoever.

Panic washed over him and he started to thrash wildly in the tail's grip, desperate to free an arm, a leg, hell if his tail could move properly he'd feel better.

Seeing how futile it was, Beelzemon stooped moving all together, and attempted to get his dignity back by glaring at the dragon's drooling mouth. Hey if he was gonna die, better die with some sort of dignity and defiance… Of course he now realized that whoever created those damn "Devil May Cry" games were pretty close to hitting the mark.

Now if you told him two hours ago that a rogue glider would save him from imminent doom via acidy digestion in a dragon's twisted insides, he would've either laughed or shot them for just thinking something up like that.

However his ego took a major blow when the sharp wings of said rogue glider also known as Grani cut off the tip of Megidramon's tail. Of course he didn't have time to complain about the odd rescue since his head was now imbedded into the ground, and Megidramon was now roaring in pain and in anger. Oh yeah, Devil may cry but glider's gonna die.

It was around that time that the Demon Lord gone good… or neutral…or a bad guy just joining an alliance for his own personal gains, kinda depends on the way you look at it, anyway it was around that time that his already fragile temper finally snapped. Hey he held it in for about 3 hours so far, and after all the shit he went through he should get a fucking medal for holding on to it this long.

However nearly being eaten by a crazed apocalyptic dragon who obeys his only friend, whose mother was brutally murdered, being saved by a rogue glider who's master is a knight who uses too much polish on his armor, and finally being dropped head first into god knows how much rubble is a bit much don't ya think?

So the most logical course of action was to curse like a sailor on weed, while shrieking like a banshee and flail his limbs wildly, trying to free his head from the rubble. Gotta love adrenalin boosts.

And that's what Sakuyamon, SaberLeomon and Jeri saw when they arrived on the battlefield: A freaky dragon swatting at a bright "turn down the shading" red, and Beelzemon swearing his ass off while trying to dislodge his head from the rubble.

Jeri sweatdroped at the sight, but once she caught a good look at Megidramon's…unique looks (definitely going to win best looking dragon of the year), she slowly got off SaberLeomon's back…thought about it for a bit and started moving back nervously, looking for some shelter "Maybe we should leave these guys alone…"

Of course immediately after that was said a stray Megido Flare was launched at Grani, missed, and instead destroyed a cluster of houses.

"…On second thought…maybe we should interfere"

Sakuyamon snorted in Rika's voice "Sure, let's blindly attack the crazed dragon that took out Beelzemon and seems to be getting angrier at the fact that a glider is flying around its head. Very smart."

"Got a better idea?" growled SaberLeomon

"Nope" She then proceeded to charge the dragon.

"…That has got to be the craziest; if not stupidest thing I've ever seen" Mumbled Jeri as Sakuyamon was swatted away and crashed into the rubble several meters away from them.

"Unfortunately for all of us she's a pre-teen." groaned Renamon's voice, "Thus, stupid and crazy actions come with the territory."

"I thought I told you not to talk to that rabbit," snapped Rika's voice.

"Uh…guys… dragon…over there…"

"I'm on it, I'm on it." Grumbled Sakuyamon's dual voice

"Alright that son of a bitch is going down!" Shouted Beelzemon as he freed his head from its prison. He jumped at Megidramon, along with Sakuyamon, and they both attacked what ever they could grab.

Sakuyamon figured out the hard way that her attacks didn't work whatsoever on him, and Beelzemon figured out that he never should try to shoot a dragon's eyes out while it was thrashing around after a glider on Speed, the result: one large stump of a tail in the kisser and one hard building in the back.

After catching a scratched up Sakuyamon, and being smacked on the back of the head for trying to check if he could see down her cleavage, he growled in frustration at not being able to do anything to it, and started to do something he once refused to do: think before charging.

And for once, he might have actually gotten a plan. Throwing a somewhat comatose Sakuyamon over his shoulder, he jumped out of Megidramon's (who decided that they were easier targets) way and landed near Jeri, dropping his burden unceremoniously at her feet. He proceeded to look towards the east section of the city where the D-Reaper was. Faint rumbles and flashes of light could be heard, probably MegaGargomon and Justimon at work.

"Saddle up, time to herd this son of a twisted Sovereign to a more fucked up twisted son of a programmer"

For a moment, Takato couldn't breathe. The scene in front of him was one of his worst fears. Beelzemon had his gun pointed at Guilmon's head, and even with his tough skin, he highly doubted it could resist the mega's weapons.

As suddenly as it hit him, the surprise and fear left him and he calmly walked up to his partner, standing between him and Beelzemon.

"That's enough Impmon." He said softly "He's an innocent in all this, you want someone to blame for Megidramon, then take it out on the one who created him"

Beelzemon snorted at that "Don't get all noble on me bub cause it ain't gonna work, now back away from him. Once he's gone, I'll be out of your life and you can continue with whatever teenagers do."

He didn't move.

Beelzemon groaned in frustration, his barely existing patience running thin "Move kid or I will have to force you."

"You want him you'll have to go through me." The boy replied defiantly.

He had enough, before Takato could react; Beelzemon grabbed the front of his shirt and brought him up to eye level, ignoring Guilmon who was still trying to shake off his dizziness.

"Listen, wiseass." he hissed "Do not think that I'm doing this for the sake of our old friendship because it ain't, the only reason I haven't shot you yet is because your fucking government is just waiting for me to put one step out of line and kill a human, so consider yourself lucky that I don't wanna deal with insects."

That said, he tossed Takato to the side, however the distraction was enough for Guilmon to see his friend being threatened and without thinking he launched himself at the Demon Lord.

He sensed him before he saw him, but it was too late to stop anything. Instinctively Beelzemon brought his arm up to deflect his attacker and was surprised when the red dinosaur bit down on his wrist.

More out of surprise then pain, Beelzemon started yelling and thrashing his arm around, trying to get the leech off him.

"Get off me you stupid pineapple head, I told you to let go." He yelled, with no success. Cursing everything he could think of he managed to whip his arm around and smashed Guilmon into a tree, causing the dino to flinch but sink his teeth deeper into his leather gauntlet.

Oh yes, this punk was going to die. Never in his life was he humiliated this much by a rookie…well when he was in his mega form anyway. Still couldn't believe Renamon tied him up and threw him in a gay strip bar.

Finally managing to toss him off, he took out his spare gun and was ready to shoot, but as soon as Guilmon landed, he launched himself at the mega once more and hit him in the chest with his rock breaker. Beelzemon, not anticipating the attack, lost his breath and stumbled back clutching his stomach.

Seeing his moment of weakness, Guilmon attempted to attack his Tamer's assaulter only to be knocked away by the demon's tail.

Furious with how everything was going so far, Beelzemon stormed towards Guilmon, picked him up by the neck and rammed his head into a tree, then into the ground. He wasn't in the mood for this type of shit, no one marked him and got away unscathed, and this guy was going to feel the full brunt of it.

That is, until he heard the words that usually meant trouble, no matter which side he was on.

"DIGI MODIFY"

"Yes tonight," shouted Rika into her cellphone "I don't care if you have a god damn date just get your fucking ass over to Henry's tonight. What? Of course it's important. No, there isn't going to be alcohol. Look it' about… WILL YOU SHUT UP AND LISTEN!"

Henry winced at that. He never did like to listen to Rika screech, anyone else he could handle but Rika definitely wasn't meant to screech when she was angry, and usually she would just have a low, menacing voice. Man did he wish that Kazu would stop baiting her.

"Listen, I believe I've figured something out about Megidramon that should end this mystery sooner than expected. No there isn't going to be porn, no Terriermon isn't going to bring any if he knows what's good." She shot a warning glare at Terriermon, on top of his tamer's head, which stopped what the rabbit was going to say. "No I won't go out with you if you do this… Just be there damnit or I swear I will make you wish that that Lillymon did sacrifice you."

Sacrifice? Henry sure as hell didn't remember Kazu being chosen to be sacrificed for anything…wait that did happen but not to him…

"Okay, so you'll be there? Good. For the last time NO!" That said she turned off her cell phone and by the look of her, she wished it was a phone that she could slam back down on its receiver.

"Geez, Kazu doesn't know when to give up does he?" asked Terriermon with an amused grin.

"Wasn't Kazu" she growled, "I swear Ryo is going to wish he never met me one of these days."

Oh yeah, now he remembered, Ryo was chosen by a bunch of Lillymon's to be sacrificed to some sort of elder god they believed in a few years back. He chuckled at that, definitely wasn't the Legendary Tamer's greatest moment… He really was going to have to figure out what is so amusing about baiting Rika.

Renamon however was staring back in the direction of the park, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Hey Foximon, what's eating you this time?" Asked the rabbit once he figured out that now wasn't the time to tempt Rika to boil him alive.

When she didn't answer, the rabbit shrugged and jumped on her head then proceeded to wave in front of her face.

"Hello? Anyone home? Rabbit got you tongue? Come on speak to me." He proceeded to knock on her head and let out a yelp as Renamon grabbed him by the ears and tossed him to the side.

"I apologize Rika but there's…something odd going on that I need to investigate."

"Well wait up; I'll come with you then." Said the red head, as she took out her D-Arc.

The Kitsune quickly shook her head "No, this is something that I believe would be best that I do alone, besides everyone should arrive at Henry's home soon, and you're the only one who knows what its for." That said she jumped into the air and vanished.

"Ya know, I really hate it when she does that."

Ignoring his friend, Henry turned to Rika, raising an eyebrow. Shrugging her shoulders Rika turned around and continued to walk in the direction of Henry's apartment. "Don't ask me, Renamon always did have a private life. You want to follow her? Then good luck because you know damn well that once she's vanished she won't let you know where she is unless she wants you to."

All of a sudden her cellphone started to ring, and with a scowl she picked it up "Listen Ryo, I told you to just get your ass moving. Is it that hard to…oh…Hi grandma…"

WarGrowlmon growled in frustration as Beelzemon jumped over his claws and kicked him in his chest. Stumbling a bit, the machine digimon quickly recovered and attempted another swipe at him, however the demon just jumped on top of his blades, gave him a very sickening smug grin and jump kicked him in the face. Back flipping in the air, the demon landed lightly on his feet while WarGrowlmon landed flat on his back.

Pretending to wipe dirt off his jacket, Beelzemon bent down to pick up his gun while taunting his foe. "It's as they say people, the bigger they are, the harder the fall."

"The harder they stomp too" replied Takato, looking through his deck for a useful cared.

"Huh?" His question was answered as a loud stomping sound boomed through the park. For a few seconds there was only silence. "Oh you did NOT just stomp on my tail."

Takato just sent a confused glance at Beelzemon's reaction, until Beelzemon realized what did actually happen. "Oh fucking mother of the sovereigns, my tail." He shouted.

Victorious at what he just accomplished, WarGrowlmon prepared to stomp on him again, but his anger clouded his better judgement and when he lifted his foot, Beelzemon gave him a jumping uppercut which sent the mecha dino stumbling back while the demon backflipped away, nursing his crushed tail.

"You jackass that actually hurt if you actually think I'm going to let you…oh no you don't, DARKNESS CLAW" the attack knocked WarGrowlmon to the ground, canceling his Atomic Blaster.

"Ah crap." Muttered Takato as he picked up a card. "Digi-Modify: Speed Activ…"

Without looking, Beelzemon lifted his gun and pointed it at Takato, shooting his cards out of his hands, destroying most of them.

"Not this time kid." He growled as he proceeded to jump on WarGrowlmon's chest and released his Darkness Claw into his face, followed up by several punches that eventually caused the Ultimate to return to his Rookie form.

Picking the Rookie up, Beelzemon prepared to backhand him but hissed in pain when Guilmon bit down on his thumb. Throwing the half conscious Rookie off him, he shook his hand, attempting to shake off the pain, and slowly walked towards it, smirking in amusement as Takato tried to drag him away.

Stopping a few feet away from them he casually scratched his back with his gun then stretched a bit. "Don't take this personal kid, but I have some unfinished business with him and, to tell you the truth, I haven't killed anything in months."

"This is just a game to you?" snarled Takato, putting himself in front of his friend. "You do this just because you're bored and have nothing better to do? What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? What ever happened to doing everything for a just cause?"

He snorted, "Kid, let me be frank with you. He beat me last time so it's personal. He's weaker so it's an amusing game. I say he's guilty and in my books that is a good enough excuse. And finally, a just cause is what people say when they want something done their way, now I suggest you get out of my god damn way before you get yourself hurt."

"This has gone too far." Takato shouted "He couldn't control himself and you have no right to blame him for that."

"But I do have the right to destroy potential threats." Sneered Beelzemon "Now, get out of my way." Seeing his defiance Beelzemon chuckled in amusement "You have guts kid I can tell ya that. What are you going to do then, break your oath to not fight anyone? Oh wait, too late you already did."

"That's where you're wrong," growled Takato "I have the right to fight to defend my friend and myself. BIOMERGE ACTIVATE."

Eyes widening, Beelzemon jumped back several meters and prepared himself for anything. He sweatdroped as nothing happened. Takato was standing still looking in horror at his D-Arc.

Beelzemon stared at him for a few seconds before starting to chuckle softly before turning it into a roar of laughter "Nice one kid, you actually scared me there for a minute." Still chuckling he moved towards Guilmon and gave another grunt of amusement as Takato tried to block his way.

Having enough, he lightly backhanded the tamer, sending him flying into a tree. Groaning, Takato sat up and watched in helpless anger as Beelzemon dramaticaly pointed his gun at Guilmon's prone body, a very satisfied smirk lighting his face.

He had to do something; he couldn't just let it end like this. He didn't keep him safe for all those years only to lose him this way.

Growling in anger, Takato stood up and ran towards Beelzemon. He wasn't going to lose anymore of his family.

Just when Beelzemon was going to shoot Guilmon, a sudden increase in power slammed into his senses. Turning around he had just enough time to see Takato launching himself at him, his D-Arc glowing an eery black. Then all he saw was a dark light.

"Look Henry, I'm telling you that kid Takato is responsible for Megidramon." Growled Rika in frustration as she paced around the blue haired tamer's room.

Henry rubbed his head in frustration and hopped that the remaining Tamers would arrive quickly. He wasn't sure how long he could handle Rika and keep Ryo from getting to her.

"Look isn't this a little too far fetched? Takato has never shown that much interest in Digimon and he doesn't like to fight."

"That's the problem, he is the only one I know who doesn't have the slightest fascination with our Digimon." Said Ryo as he gave a warning glance at Terriermon who was trying to steel his drink.

"Yes but not everyone is interested in Digimon." Said Monodramon

"But you forget, aside from yesterday, Takato never acknowledged any Digimon's presence while even those who hate them notice their prensence." Snapped Rika

"Look, just what proof do you have of all this anyway? Hell you always treated him decently and he never did anything to anyone."

He raised an eyebrow as Rika tossed him a worn notebook. "Look at the last few pages." She mumbled as she sat down on the chair next to his computer, running a hand through her hair before sharply twisting her neck to the side, cracking it.

"Very charming." Said Ryo with his usual easy going smile.

"Shut it."

Henry raised his eyebrow as he opened the notebook to the last pages, seeing sketches and written information of the red Digimon. He sent her a puzzled look.

Seeing the look he sent her, Rika signed "A Detailed sketch of the Digimon from yesterday with data on his height, weight, strength, basically everything you need to make a good Digimon, and if you've noticed it was obviously designed to be far stronger that your average Rookie."

"That still doesn't say much, for all we know he could've just picked it up." Said Ryo as he looked at it over Henry's shoulder.

"Oh for crying out loud." She snapped, "He panicked when he saw I was skimming through it and was in such a hurry that he didn't pay attention to what he was doing."

They were all quiet for a bit before Terriermon spoke up. "Well that will explain why you're so pissed at him." He grinned cheekily "He groped you didn't he?"

"What? What the hell does that have to do with this."

Now, if Terriermon hadn't known her for long, he wouldn't have noticed the very faint blush that spread across her cheeks, unfortunately for her, he noticed.

"Well, I seem to have touched a mark now haven't I? So he did…"

A shrill wistling pierced the air, causing all the humans present to cover their ears.

"What the fuck is going on?" shouted Ryo through the noise. He looked to the side and noticed Monodramon growling in a way that he only did as Cyberdramon. Terriermon was staring at something past Rika in panic, his fur rising.

Henry noticed that and felt a wave of dread consume him. He had only noticed that on his partner once, in Zhuqiaomon's palace and it wasn't for a good reason. Turning towards where Terriermon was staring, doing his best to ignore the noise, he froze. On the screen of his computer was glowing black Hazard.

Rika and Ryo both noticed it a few seconds later, and not being able to handle the noise, Rika quickly moved off the chair and moved to unplug the computer.

"You were saying" she spat at Henry as she got up.

Ignoring her, Henry turned to his partner. "Terriermon, do you know where it's coming from?"

The rabbit nodded "It's coming from the direction of the park."

"Let's move," said Ryo as he got up and grabbed his jacket. As soon as he got to the door, it slammed open on his face, smashing him against the wall.

"Henry," shouted Susie as she ran him, a trembling Lopmon in her hands "something's wrong, my D-Arc is acting up." Lifting it up, The Tamers noticed the Hazard glowing on the screen and, as soon as they checked their respective devises, found that it was doing the same for theirs.

"Park! NOW!" Barked Henry as he stormed out of his room, followed by Rika as she dragged a dazed Ryo.

"Oh don't worry about me, I'm fine. Not like I got a concussion from that blow."

"Can it or I will go through with my castration threat." Snapped Rika as they exited the appartment.

"Henry, wait for me." Said Susie as she ran after her brother.

"Susie stay here." He replied in a calm voice. "No matter what, do not leave the appartment unless it's an emergency or it's with mom or dad."

"But Henry…"

"You heard him kid." Said Rika in a patient voice. "Lopmon won't be much help were we're going."

"But the others are going…"

"The others have more experience than you do." Snapped Henry before he shut his mouth, regretting yelling at his sister when she didn't deserve it. "Just…stay here." He said in the gentlest voice he could muster at the time. With that they left the apartment.

Throwing his arms in front of him, Beelzemon defelected his foe's lance and moved in, landing three light jabs before he was knocked away by its shield.

He didn't know how Takato could have two mega forms for his Digimon, but right now he was more concerned on saving his skin. A Dumb Dragon he could handle, but a strong knight wannabe that could think was going a tad too far.

The Knight resembled a lot like the one he fought seven years ago, but this one has sharp blue eyes and a blue cape instead of soft golden eyes and a red cape. And his shield was way too blue for anyone with morals.

He didn't know what it was called but right now he was more interested in knowing how the fuck it could be that strong.

Dodging another swipe from its lance he tried to hit it with its tail, only to be blocked by that damn shield.

Backflipping away, Beelzemon launched his Double Impact continously at it to no effect as it kept hiding behind its shield. Good, at least it couldn't move for the moment. This wasn't going to be like the last fight with that knight. This time he was going to think about was he was doing. First he had to get rid of that shield.

The sound of clicking wasn't good news as he growled at one of the guns that ran out of ammo. Backing up, he continued to fire with his remaining active gun, preparing a plan. He cursed loudly when the Knight launched a stream of red lightning from its lance.

It hit him sqaure in the chest and sent him flying then lended in a painful heap on the ground. He quickly got up and jumped out of the way of the Knight's slash and countered it with a Darkness Claw in the back, sending it sprawling.

"Got you now, mother fucker." He growled as he jumped on his back and and brought his claws down repeatedly on his wrist…that is until he saw that its shield was attached to its arm, not held by a hand. "Oh you clever son of a… oumf."

He was hit on the side of the head by its spear and toppled to the ground, stunned.

The Knight stood up and was about to bring its lance down on the demon when it felt a slight impact against its head. Swiveling its head around, the knight saw Renamon rebounding from a kick she landed on him and fazed out of the way of the knights attempted stab, which was enough for Beelzemon to recover and land a good hit on its back.

He wouldn't give it time to recover. Launching himself with a roar at the knight, he threw punch after punch at it, eventually pulling back to recover from the sting of the impact against its armor.

Getting up, the Knight just stared at him coldly before launching another bolt of lightning. Barely dodging it, Beelzemon lost his breath as the Knight somehow threw its shield at him.

Gasping for breath and ignoring the stinging pain in his side, he looked up to see that where the shield was supposed to be on the knight's arm was a hand instead. The Bastard could summon em.

It charged at him before he was fully recovered, tackling him in the sternum, then grabbed his tail, launched him in the air, and hit him with its lance like a baseball.

Slowly getting up, and spitting some dirt from his mouth, Beelzemon glared at his foe. That had actually hurt. The son of a bitch really wanted to die. Well, it was time to show him what a Demon Lord was made of.

Moving with a speed that surprised even himself, Beelzemon launched at the Knight, flipping in the air and threw both feet against its chest, launching it back. Stopping his fall with both arms, he pushed off the ground and flipped around, his tail smashing against the knight's head, sending its body spinning a few times before landing awkwardly on its legs.

One advantage, he realized, was that the knight couldn't use his weapons if he got in too close. They were too heavy and he really doubted that all that armor was flexible enough.

The Knight wasn't stupid though and when it realized what Beelzemon was doing, it disposed of its weapons and grabbed Beelzemon's arm, canceling his attack and threw him over its shoulder.

Flipping in the air, Beelzemon landed facing it and launched a quick jab, which was blocked and answered with a heavy knee in the stomach.

Grabbing him in a head lock, the knight start to choke and twisted it, being shoved all over the place by Beelzemon who was trying to free himself. Gasping, Beelzemon bashed the knight with the back of its head, when he judged it was close enough, and elbowed it in the gut several time to get it to loosen its grip before he managed to twist his way out of it.

Roaring in frustration, he grabbed the still recovering knight and bashed its head into the ground repeatedly until he felt it go limp in his arms. Throwing it to the side, he jumped up a tree then jumped down, bringing his elbow down to attempt to finish it, only to scream in agony as the Knight brought its shield up to deflect it and smash his side with it's lance, sending him through a few trees.

Man his insurance company was going to have a field day. Groaning, he got up, nursing his damaged elbow and stared in the direction of the Knight who was charging its shield.

"Ah fuck." He mumbled, he recognized that attack all too well. Well, an attack similar to it anyway, and he knew he wouldn't get there fast enough to cancel it and he knew what would happen if he dodged it. Crap, why the hell did they have to fight in an area he liked? He was so going to blame the Tamers for giving him a conscience. Honestly they're only humans.

"Hey, jackass, up here." He shouted as he jumped onto of a tree, using his momentum to launch off a branch high into the air.

"JUDECCA PRISON!" It boomed, and the last thing he saw before it overcame him was a giant beam of black light.

'_For once, just for once I wish these people would get a clue and run when they think something is wrong, especially in the god damn park'_ thought Rika as she and her two male companions shoved their way through the crowd of people who were murmuring to each other about the noise and rumbles coming from the park.

She glanced to her side and saw Terriermon quickly jumping from head to head, managing to keep up with the Tamer's running. She glanced up and saw Cyberdramon ascend to the sky from a nearby building before launching himself to the park.

"Excuse me, pardon me, of for Kami's sake…" muttered Henry as he tried to make his way through. "Terriermon get off that man's head. Good, Digi-Modify, Matrix Digivolution Activate."

In a flash of light, Rapidmon replaced the Rookie, and at a glance from Henry, Rika followed him on the mecha Rabbit's shoulder.

Everything was going smoothly until an explosion and a blinding light filled the ski, followed by a shockwave that sent Rapidmon and his passengers tumbling to the ground.

Before she could hit the ground, Renamon phased in on a tree branch and jumped, snatching Rika out of mid air, while Cyberdramon zoomed down catching Henry, leaving Rapidmon to get reaquainted with the ground. Ryo ran up, gasping for air.

"Next time wait up will ya?" he panted.

"Shut up and run." Shouted Renamon as she started to bound away.

"Run? What is she talking about?" Muttered Rapidmon as he stood up.

"INCOMING!" Shouted Ryo as Cyberdramon dived in front of him, shielding him and Henry from the barrage of trees, branches and whatever was left of the baseball field in the park.

"Oh come on!" shouted Rapidmon as he was knocked back on the ground and burried by a few trees.

A few minutes later, Renamon fazed back in with a green looking Rika.

"Next time…" she said softly, holding on to her stomach "Warn me before you move that fast… Oh shit I think I'm gonna be sick."

Knowing that her Tamer will be all right in a few minutes, she deposited her on the ground and began her search for her buried companions.

"Okay…that does it." came a muffled voice "RAPID FIRE!" An explosion caught Renamon's attention and she fazed to the area where the explosion came from to see a very battered Rapidmon cursing up a storm. A moment later, Cyberdramon burst out of his tomb with an irritated snarl.

"Shut up Rapidmon." Said Henry as he shook some branches off and checked himself for injuries "Next time think twice before using your attacks in close quarters."

"Well why didn't you tell me that when I faught that lego reject."

"Because you knew damn well what you were doing." Said a healthier looking Rika as she walked through the reckage of trees to them.

Looking around, Ryo whistled at the amount of damage. It seemed that what ever happened came from the southern part of the park. The surrounding area was damaged from all the tress that landed nearby, but aside from that, it looked like it would make it through yet another beating. The downside of it all is that the park was getting smaller every year.

Chuckling, Ryo looked at his friends. "What are the odds of them blaming it on us this time."

"A definitive if Impmon was behind this again."

"When isn't he?"

"Point. So what was it this time Renamon? Was it anything to do with Megidramon."

She shook her head "No, it's not Megidramon, although it does look familiar."

"Well whatever it is, I'm not picking anything up in the general area of the park." Said Rapidmon. "Although I am picking up intense energy signatures generally radiating from Digimon heading towards the outskirts of town."

"Renamon, go check it out but do not engage it." instructed Rika.

"Wasn't planning on it." She mumbled before fazing out.

"I knew she watched those American war movies." Said Terriermon.

Beelzemon jumped on top of a building and continued running. He had to lead that thing out of the city. The Humans he could care less about but he knew from experience that it was a bitch dealing with them after a fight like that. Besides, cities made crappy battlefields. This time he was going to fight on his terms.

Dodging another blast of lightning, the demon leaped off the current building, grabbed a flagpole and swung off it into the streets below, giving a sharp whistle as he continued to run.

He grinned as Behemoth rounded the corner of the next block and without missing a beat, leapt on the still moving bike. _'Try to get me now you bastard'_

He didn't know how long the chase lasted, all he knew is that the knight was relentless in his pursuit, and it unnerved him how it chose him as his only target. Sure it was his plan to lead it out of the city, but he didn't need to stop to get its attention once. That was highly unnusual. Damnit, he needed to get a good look at it. Not once was he able to stand still and observe it long enough to get information on it.

Stopping the bike, Beelzemon looked around the deserted road. The woods were on the side of it so it was possible it was trying to ambush him but he couldn't go any further. He was tired, sore, hungry and, quite frankly, hated to run.T

"I suppose you have an idea of what's going." He said to the evening air.

Renamon fazed beside him and shook her head. "I have an idea of what this creature is and if it is in anyway related to the hazard then it isn't good."

"Well that's cheerful." He mumbled "But hey, at least this ain't Megidramon."

"Megidramon didn't think, this one does."

"Yes but this prick ain't invulnerable toots. So do you have any idea why takato is doing this."

"I don't believe he knows what he's doing, the hazard was always supposed to act to defend itself."

"Those tablets also said that if it ever awoke, both worlds would be destroyed and we're still here toots."

"They are known to mistake."

"Then they might be mistaken again and he's doing this voluntarily."

"You cannot defeat him in your current state." she said, ignoring his remark "Tire him out, the hazard can only stay active for a small amount of time."

"Oh and who's fault is it for me being in this condition?" He snarled. "Because of you guys and your god damn morals I took the full blunt of that guys attack and I'm just holding back the urge to pass out. Do you know how much that hurt?"

"WATCHOUT!"

Roaring in surprise, Beelzemon was sent skidding across the road.

Seeing the knight, Renamon quickly jumped away, acknowledging the fear that was trying to overcome her and ignoring her instincts screaming at her to run. The Knight didn't acknowledge her as it moved towards Beelzemon's limp form. It was enough for her to scan him, and she wasn't happy with the results.

_ChaosGallantmon, a Mega Level, Virus type Dark Knight Digimon. A creature born of a holy knight with a tainted soul whose objective remains unknown. His Judecca Prison and Demon's Disaster attacks can only be described with one word: abysmal._

"It's always the fallen ones isn't it?" said Ryo as Rika read off Renamon's scans.

"ChaosGallantmon?" said Rapidmon in disbelief. "That guy is supposed to be a myth, there is no way for that thing to exist…unless…" Cyberdramon sent him a warning growl before the rabbit could say anything else.

"Unless what?" asked Rika as she gave him her usual glare.

"…Nothing…nothing at all." He said as he de-digivolved. "Well there's nothing we could do anyway."

"What do you mean? That thing is out there and Renamon…"

"…Can take care of herself," growled Cyberdramon. "The hazard isn't strong enough yet, it doesn't have complete control over him."

"Yes well that still doesn't explain why it attacked Beelzemon." Said Ryo.

"There are a lot of things that we don't know the answers to yet." Said Terriermon

"Why are you taking this so lightly?" snapped Rika "Only two hours ago you looked like you were going to faint out of fear and now you think everything is going to be alright?"

"If you would shut up and listen to me for once I could tell you why?" snapped the rabbit. "We can sense large amounts of power, especially megas. We can handle that amount if we're at our higher levels, but at our current levels our instincts warn us of hostile Digimon and we look for any way to survive. You have no idea how long it took me to get used to Beelzemon. There are also some cases when they mask their strength but in the Digital World they like to show off. But that's beside the point, that freak show's strength is weakening every minute so Beelzemon and Renamon are perfectly safe."

"For your sake they'd better be." Growled Rika as she resumed looking at the confrontation through her D-Arc.

"Well that was a dissapointment." Purred a sultry voice in the shadows of the woods lining up beside the road where the confrontation was taking place.

"It has just awakened my dear." Came a frail voice from her side. "At its current state we should be more ashamed that one of our brethren has barely survived its onslaught."

"Well look at it this way, we can either view it as though the hazard is stronger than anticipated, or we can believe that our 'brother' is weaker than we thought. But to save face, lets go for the former."

"Do what you wish missy, vini vidi vici and whatnot. We came, we saw, we saw it nearly conquer now lets get out of here, it's getting cold out here."

"Aww." She mock pouted, "Are you getting too old for this old man?"

"Shush you! Now lets just head back and report. Youngsters these days, no respect for their elders."

"Actually we're the same age, you just look older due to some screw up in the evolution chain."

"Shut up."

"So what are we going to tell them?" she said as they moved away from the fight.

"The usual: a creature that was never supposed to exist was born and the Fallen Tamer is approaching the Crossroads."

AN Yeah, yeah I know I'm letting this off at a horrible time and the chapter isn't as good as it could be, but I put this off long enough and I believe that it's about time I let you guys know that I'm still alive.

Anyway, since I have all my afternoons off now, I should get the next chapter up a lot more quickly.

One last thing, in case anyone noticed, I do not own ChaosGallantmon's description, borrowed it from Daneel Rush…without his permission but hey, ya don't know where I live so ya can't kill me…yet.


	7. The Price of Power

**Alright, it took me longer**** (and I mean a lot longer) to get back in the swing of things but have no fear for I have returned…or for those who do know me personally: fear me, if you dare. I'd hiss but it wouldn't have that much effect on this. That and I was told that if I tried any Puss n Boots impressions I would meet a painful end**

**So, this would be about the time I give the usual disclaimer and all that but its pretty obvious by now that if I owned the characters and all that crap, I wouldn't be in the need of a summer job right about now.**

**Still, I have no excuse for the rather long delay in updating this fic. The only explanations I have is that: University is a good place to go to lose all your will to live, and I am the laziest guy out there since Fat Bastard…just take off about 800 pounds. Oh and to all the complaints about the last chapter, I do not know what the hell happened to my writing format; all I know is that most of the parts indicating a scene change were deleted when I posted this. does NOT like Microsoft Word apparently so don't blame me, just blame me for my refusal to repost it and lose all my reviews.**

**Anyway, I'd like to thank all the reviews I have received, over 100 reviews if I'm not mistaken and that's only for 6 chapters so yay for me. Thanks to all the people who actually do want me to update and a thanks to my cousin who, as sarcastic and prone to the Dark Side as he may be (seriously give him force powers and he'll make Exar Kun run for it, not a joke, the kid would screw us all over), he still encouraged me to continue.**

**Chapter 7**

**The Price of Power**

_The city was destroyed. Weeks of continuous attacks by the entity known as the D-Reaper had caused most of the city to either disappear within its form or be destroyed due to the battles between the Pawns of the Reaper and the Military of the United Nations._

_It was confirmed within a week of the first strike that the "Reaper", as they called it for short, was programmed to absorb anything with an electronic flow, thus causing to target every last living being on the planet due to the flow of their brain patterns. It also didn't help that every piece of electronic equipment it absorbed seems to increase its size and power, causing its pawns to grow in power and quickly overwhelm the troops sent to detain it._

_So far, they managed to send probes within its dome, managing to get some of the data that was added to its original programming, giving the programmer Shibumi a chance to devise a way to slow it down, no matter how temporary as it was._

_Of course that really was of no help to Beelzemon at the moment, a thought that briefly crossed his mind as he was thrown through one of the two remaining walls of an abandoned home, causing whatever miracle that was holding the ceiling up to collapse down on him._

_Since the military was of no use right now, Hypnos took the initiative and brought in its last line of defense, a group of 10 year old kids. Laughable as it was for the ones heading the operation against the Reaper; they soon realized that with its growing power, only those children had the power to actually hold the line._

_That pissed the Demon Lord off to no end, mainly because of in that group there were only 5 fighters competent enough to fight, and one of those couldn't fight for that long before losing all his energy. That and he had enough with being target practice._

_Gritting his teeth as he braced himself under the rubble, Beelzemon managed to bring his arms up through the weight of the rubble and dirt covering his body, and with a roar of frustration, forced his arms up and away from him, rubble blasting away from his upper body. Now having enough room to struggle out of the rubble, an action that would've been simple to him if he wasn't so damn exhausted, he shakily got back to his legs, letting out a curse as he stumbled to his knees, sweat dripping down his face. Maybe a quick breather would do him some good._

_A loud roar broke the silence, followed by a cry of pain. The Demon looked up and saw Sakuyamon disappear within a skyscraper. The damage it received over the past weeks finally taking its toll, Beelzemon could only watch in frustration as the building crumbled down over his partner, a large cloud of dust filling the air, causing his eyes to water as it enveloped him. He had to admit, even at full power, he'd have some difficulty getting out of that._

_Cursing loudly, his break now done, he spat out some amount of data. He detested the Human World. Back in the Digital World, ones data quickly worked to repair damaged functions, but here it was slowed down considerably, making a normal Digimon more 'real' than they would like._

_Looking around he could see Jeri cradling an unconscious Elecmon. He wasn't sure if he was out of it because of the dragon or because he ran out of energy, but he went out too quickly to have been of any proper use._

_Beelzemon let out a bitter smile at that. Sometimes he just hated being the strongest in the group. Acting as if he wasn't just thrown around the entire block, he managed to stumble out into the open where the dragon could see him, thankfully only stumbling once. Taking a deep breath he twisted his neck to the side, letting out an audible pop. Doing the same to his arms, stretching them over his head and cracking them with a quick twist of his wrists, he looked up at the dragon and let out a feral grin. If he was going to be deleted, at least it wasn't by that pink mass of data absorbing blubber._

_He took a look around the block, making a small motion to Jeri to get out of the area, and spread his legs apart, trying to find a comfortable position to stand in that wouldn't make him collapse._

_Giving one last look around, he knew he was royally screwed. Henry and Ryo were out throwing a suicide charge at the Reaper in a last ditch offense to try put a virus within it…something to do with a red car. The red glider, the only thing that actually managed to hurt that dragon, was destroyed and absorbed long ago by that monstrosity, SaberLeomon's out of power and odds are Sakuyamon was as good as dead._

_Knowing that its prey was as good as deleted, Megidramon slowly descended until it was floating a few meters above the rubble torn street, its face a twisted mockery of life, its exposed maw seemingly mocking him in a perverted version of a smirk. An added effect, Beelzemon idly thought, was the acid drool dripping out of its exposed teeth and onto the concrete._

_It was taking its time, toying with its prey. The only reason the odd looking rat was still in one piece was because its master couldn't seem to make up his mind on what to do, almost as though he was fighting himself._

_Taking a deep breath, Beelzemon stood his ground, his instincts screaming at him to run. Wincing a bit, he forced his third eye open, it having being swollen shut a few moments ago. Bitting back the pain that was trying to overwhelm him, he grinned at his death and took out his remaining gun._

_Usually he'd come out with some statement of bravado or a witty remark, but right now, he was too damn exhausted to bother wasting his breath._

_And with the loud crack of a shotgun and the roar of a creature that was never supposed to exist, the battle was joined once again._

* * *

"Ow! Damnit it you crazy broad I told you to be careful! OW! SON OF A…" 

"Do be quiet." Renamon calmly told him as she unrolled another length of white bandages, ripping it off with a sharp yank of her teeth. Grabbing Impmon's arm, giving him a warning glance when he continued to curse and flinch, she wrapped the material over the ointment she applied to his right bicep and tightly tied it securely.

"I told you I don't need them." The Imp proceeded to grumble, deciding it to be wise to be quieter when the Kitsune bared the claws of her left paw at him.

"And Gourgon advised that it would be prudent to make sure you bandage your wounds, even if only for a few hours." She informed him, giving him a sharp whack on the back, causing him to nearly fall over flat on his face.

"Right, like I'm going to trust that weirdo."

"You don't trust anyone."

"Well he's definitely not trustworthy."

"Get over yourself, Imp." The Kitsune's eyes narrowed as once again she was dragged into this petty argument over their medic.

"What? I have a god damned point, wench." He snapped, standing up from his seated position in the middle of the warehouse. "We barely know anything about him, he wears those weird glasses, he owns his own private clinic which no ones seems to have ever heard of, he patches us up for free (to my knowledge anyway), and he's a god damn Frenchman."

"What do you have against the French?"

"Have you ever listened to one? That language is the most fucked up thing since Terriermon's new found enjoyment of spinach."

"I thought it was his strange fascination of human pornography."

Impmon trailed off, his eyes widening as he stared at the Kitsune in fake amazement "By the fires of the phoenix god, did you just crack a joke?"

"No, I am simply saying that in light of everything, you find Terriermon's fascination with pornography more disturbing than anything you've encountered, including Princess PurpleBum."

The imp let out a shiver at that memory "We promised to never speak of that again." He quietly said, quickly looking around to make sure no one was in hearing range. Letting out a barely audible sigh of relief, he straightened his shoulders again and put on his patented glare "I still think French is the most fucked up language out there."

"You do realize that most would consider Japanese a difficult language to speak right?"

"Don't start with me." He growled. Moving towards an area where a bunch of crates were all piled up on each other, he made his way up the wooden boxes and jumped out the open window they previously used to get in. Landing on the edge of the small structure, he hopped up on a lamp post, followed by the roof of a nearby house. Grumbling, he looked through the night towards the center of Shinjuku. Spitting out a few curses he started the long walk, not even flinching when Renamon fazed in next to him.

"What about that American we met three years ago. His Digimon spoke English and not a word of Japanese."

"That Digimon was a pussy." He grumbled "Couldn't even digivolve to champion."

Having enough with the argument, which sadly was a normal conversation for both of them, she opted to remain silent. Judging Rika's distance by the link she had with her D-Arc, she thought over the possibility of leaving the Imp in favor of joining company that wasn't as sour, but immediately tossed it aside, not trusting the imp to double back and search out the one that put him in his current condition.

"I could've taken him, you know." He suddenly spoke up. Looking down at him, she noticed his eyes were narrowed and his left hand, the only one he could actually feel at the moment, was balled into a fist.

"Yes, I don't doubt you could have, but you took the brunt of his attack. After something like that, you would have been hard pressed to actually pull off a successful fight."

"You insulting my skills?" He growled, glaring up at her.

"I am stating a fact." She responded, the coldness in her voice sharper than he could ever hope to attain.

"Still, I had the chance to take the freak out if you didn't stop me." He growled out, his bitter mood sounding more like sulking to the Kitsune's sensitive ears.

"That creature posed no threat once it reverted back to its rookie form, and if you killed it that soon after De-digivolving from mega, you would've killed its Tamer as well. And before you even say a word on the subject…" She added, narrowing her eyes at him as he opened his mouth to reply "You know as well as I that we can't afford to cause any more harm against the humans. They barely trust us as it is, and after that event with those Human Supremacists…"

"Human Supremacists…ya know they really could've come up with something more original to explain that they're nothing but a group of racist human fucktards that hate anything that isn't human and can talk."

"The D-Reaper did cause a lot of damage…"

"To Shinjuku!" He snapped turning around to face her, pointing a finger at her as though trying to intimidate her "The D-Reaper only destroyed Shinjuku and that blob of killer jello was created by them! They created it and it came after us before finding a way to this world and decided to screw them over!"

"Are you done?"

"No!" He all but roared, snapping his fingers repeatedly, lighting a fireball and extinguishing it repeatedly, the flame barely appearing before disappearing. "Those Bastards ought to be killed, each and every one of them. We never even did anything to them."

"You dismembered their leader!" She exclaimed. Ignoring her, he continued to walk, stopping in his tracks when she fazed in front of him. "By killing their leader you just fueled the fire, you didn't help our situation at all."

"He tried to kill Ai and Moko." He snarled "It was either them or him, and guess what toots, that wasn't even worth thinking over."

"Well they currently aren't in danger, so you don't have any suitable reason to kill anyone. Or are you still sore over the fact that this boy defeated you not once, but twice."

He narrowed his eyes, taking a few steps towards her, the fireball in his hand slowly growing in size. "He beat me once, and that was it."

She kneeled down until her face was almost level with his "Megidramon nearly killed all of us." Her voice held no sign of ill will towards the creature, simply stating a fact "But the fact that the one who created it sent it after you, not to defeat you, but to kill you, that seems to bother you the most."

"Watch it wench." He said through gritted teeth as a portion of the roof started to glow and radiate heat.

"There is more between this Takato and yourself than you let on."

Growling, he extinguished the fireball in his hand in favor of summoning his Demon's Fireball before she kicked him in the chin, lifting him off the ground and falling heavily on his back two feet away.

"Don't be foolish Impmon." She landed beside him, not making any move to help him up.

Bringing his hand up to rub at his chin, he stood up, glaring at her. For a brief moment he toyed with the thought of actually attacking her straight out but in the end decided against it since he was more or less out of energy and she was stocked up. He also had to grudgingly admit that his current form…wasn't the strongest to say the least.

"I still say we should go back and finish the job, that way your decision won't come back to bite us in the ass." He growled, resuming his walk towards city.

She didn't say anything and they both continued to walk in silence, occasionally jumping to another rooftop. It wasn't until the location changed from a run down storage area to a more suburban area, the warehouses now replaced by decent looking houses for those that could actually afford their own domain in Tokyo that Renamon finally came out of her thoughts.

"When we reached the woods, when the fight came to an end…" She said, the sudden noise in the silent neighborhood causing Impmon to jump a bit, his thoughts of sweet revenge temporarily put on hold. "Wasn't there an odd feeling around there?"

"You always get an odd feeling when there are virus's around." Said Impmon, giving her a mocking smile "Then again that's probably what happens to you data types, most likely a warning mechanism to get the fuck out of the general area. Which is really not such a bad idea, cause remember, when it comes to power, I'm one bad mother fuc…"

"I didn't mean you or the other child." She said, cutting him off, ignoring his glare and indignant protests to being compared to a kid. "There were other presences there, watching us, and I'm fairly certain that Digimon you were fighting sensed them."

"Please," scoffed Impmon, looking away, jumping down on one of the fences and leisurely making his way along it, biting back the urge to whistle. "If there were Digimon there, they were probably too afraid to escape, thinking it would catch our attention."

"Impmon, they didn't feel right, their power was…unfamiliar and it was no accident that I sensed them." She intoned, fazing in front of him, preventing him from moving on his current path "And until then, I had not felt the urge to flee in a very long time." She said, lowering her voice.

Impmon hesitated at that. As much as he loved to insult her, he knew that there was only one Digimon that every truly made her want to flee, not instincts telling you to flee, but the urge to just abandon everything and run. However that over sized bird would sooner rut with the D-Reaper than ever enter the Real World.

"So what are you trying to say?" He finally asked, bringing both hand to rest behind his head, and crossing one leg over the other, balancing himself on one foot.

"Watch over the boy, make sure he has no relations to them and be on the look out, you know as well as I that any Digimon that makes an effort to hide itself is not to be taken lightly.

"Neither were the Devas." Said Impmon in a mocking tone of voice "But then look how badly they beat your asses."

Ignoring him, Renamon turned around and started to walk away from him. Stopping a few feet away from him, she tilted her head back to look at him "There is a metting about to start within a few hours to discuss the latest turn of events, shall I let them know that you are coming?"

"No." he said, crossing his arms "I promised Ai and Moko I'd be home tonight and help them clean their house, get rid of old junk and whatnot."

The Kitsune inclined her head "Very well then." She then fazed away.

The arrogant smirk that usually adorned his face slowly faded as he scowled "Really wish she'd stop doing that." He grumbled as he started an easy run towards the place he could call home.

* * *

As consciousness slowly returned to him, Takato couldn't help but notice that he wasn't supposed to be floating in a sea of red. Groaning, he tried to turn around in the air to no effect. 

Flapping his arms, he tried to make himself float upwards. Seeing as this was useless (that and he finally realized he could not for the life of him realize what was up and what was down) he finally stopped. As much as this was irritating, he couldn't help but think that the entire situation was rather sad since it was not his first time in this…realm.

Of course the past two or three times he'd been here had to do something with Guilmon in one form or the other, but this time there was nothing here that hinted at that.

**So it has finally awakened**

Takato immediately tried to twist around to find the source of the voice

_It would seem that way._

"Okay who's there?" Shouted out Takato, twisting his head back and forth to try to find the source of the two different voices

**We are here and everywhere**

_We are in the present, the past and the futures to come_

Frustrated, Takato ran his hand over his face to pinch the bridge of his nose. He was living one giant cliché, he knew it.

"Alright, would you care to make sense of why I'm here then?"

**You are here**

_Because we choose you to be here_

"Alright then, why do you choose me to be here?" He said, nearly pulling his hair in frustration.

**We are the balance of order and chaos**

_We have chosen you to bring back order_

"Well that's just dandy and all but could you elaborate on that?" He asked, wondering if this was all just a bad dream.

**You have been chosen by the fates to bring back proper order to your world. **

_Your world has fallen in a state of__ constant warfare with the Digital Realm, we have chosen you as one who has the potential to bring back the natural balance_

"I'm sorry what? Balance? Potential?" he asked, not liking where this was going

**We have observed your world and have deemed you as one of the being with the potential to bring proper order not only to your realm, but the digital realm**

_So in order to see if you are worthy, we have decided to put you through a test_

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold it!" Shouted Takato, bringing one hand on top of the other in a time out gesture. "Test? You're saying that the worlds are being screwed up and instead of doing something about it you decide to put me through a test?"

**It is the only way to know if you are worthy of the task we would appoint you with**

_A conflict is fast approaching that would open three paths for you to follow with only two possible outcomes._

"Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to like this?" He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and, to and outside viewer, starting to sulk.

**One outcome will prove your worthiness, the other will end up with the destruction of your realm**

"WHAT?" shouted Takato "You're asking me to do something to supposedly save the worlds and instead of telling me what to do your testing me with something that could destroy everything? How in hell is that supposed to work? What if I fail?"

_If you fail then you would have proven that you are unsuitable for the task ahead and we will move on to the next potential candidate_

"And how the fuck are you supposed to find another candidate if the world is destroyed?"

**Do not ask for an answer that you can not understand**

_Our time here is at an end, it is time for you to awaken_

"Wait, hold on, you can't just tell me this and suddenly abandon me, you hear me?" he shouted as everything started to fade around him "You can't just leave me like this, what the hell gives you the right to…"

* * *

He woke with a start, jolting upright, gasping loudly as his mind replayed the events that had seemingly occurred, all of it seeming to real to be a simple dream. Then the pain registered. 

Going rigid in agony, he collapsed back on the bed, instinctively trying to hug himself, though he quickly found out that he could barely do even that.

Thrashing around in pain, it became too much for him and he rolled over on the bed and emptied his stomach on the floor, vaguely registered the small amount of blood that accompanied it.

"Sapristi, je déteste quand ça arrive." Muttered a man as he made his way to Takato, quickly bringing the restraints on the bed around him to prevent him from hurting himself anymore that and he already was "Courage, mon petit, courage." He mumbled as he took up a stick of morphine and stabbed it into Takato's leg, making sure to hold him down until the boy stopped thrashing around and fell back into the realm of unconsciousness.

Muttering to himself, he checked the boy's vitals and prepared a bag of pain killers beside his bed. His task done, he turned to observe Guilmon who was lying down on the floor, his ears drooping down.

"Easy there my friend." He said in heavily accented Japanese , one hand moving up to push the bridge of his glasses back on his face. "In a few hours the pain will pass and he will almost be back to normal." He said, giving the Dinosaur a small smile. "Don't worry; I have yet to lose someone to the perils of Biomerging."

Sighing at the lack of response, Jacque Gourgon got up from his seat and entered his office, closing the door behind him. Removing his glasses and pressing his thumb and index finger against his eyelids, he let out a heavy sigh before turning on a recording device.

"Thursday October 24th 2006, from Doctor Jacque Gourgon to Mizuno "Shibumi" Gorō.

I have just finished stabilizing Matsuda Takato after the events of him parting from his partner. As you observed a few years earlier, Shibumi, it seems that your theory on one's ability to Biomerge in the real world is still as fatal as you thought it would become. From my interactions with the Tamers Jenrya Li (or Henry Wong as some prefer to call him) and Nonaka Rika, it has been over 5 years since they had last attempted to Biomerge with their partners, the last attempt being made by one Akiyama Ryo on February 12th 2001 that nearly resulted in the boy's death. I was unsure whether this problem would last but apparently you were right in your observation.

"From what Alice McCoy told us, the sovereigns gave her a Digimon that would give the Tamers to merge with their own Digimon, essentially Dobermon turned their molecules into data, allowing them to break the laws of physics and become one with a digital being. However, if Alice's report is true, then Dobermon would have gotten this ability from the Pheonix God Zhuqiaomon. Knowing this creature's prejudice towards humans, it would be natural to assume that he only made this a temporary arrangement. Their ability to Biomerge should have been lost soon after the D-Reaper's destruction.

"However it would seem that there was an unexpected side effect. The data fused with the molecules of the Tamers gradually faded yet they kept their ability to merge. I have no idea how this is possible, this is more suitable to your field, Shibumi. I do know that when they now try to merge, their molecules are ripped apart and bonded with Digimon who are essentially, still mostly data. I have no idea how theyr survive the merging, maybe it happens too quickly to properly register, but when they return to their natural forms, the pain of being taken apart and put back together is painful enough to cause a few malfunctions in their bodies that I doubt anyone could properly treat.

"Usually after "De-digivolving", if you prefer to call it, they need immediate medical attention to stabilize their condition, though for some reason their bodies manage to heal at a rate that is simply not human. All they need to properly heal is the proper medical attention to make sure that the shear pain that it causes doesn't kill them.

"Which brings us to our young Matsuda. I don't know where he came from or how he could Biomerge, but it would seem that he did not know of the side effects, which would mean either he had never bonded before, it was his first time in years that he believed it necessary to merge, or that maybe the data that allowed him to Biomerge in the first place finally wore off. Personaly, Shibumi, I'm leaning more towards the second theory since from what Impmon told me, it is my belief that he's been capable of this for a while now.

"His heart failed twice, which I was thankfully able to stabilize and his bones were fractured all over, and if the scans I keep going over are true, they are healing up at a phenomenal pace. In fact within 4 hours it will seem that he never was damaged. Unexpected healing rate, a lot faster than Akiyama who took only two days to fully heal, Henry Wong took three and Rika Nonaka took a few hours longer than Mr Wong.

"Look Shibumi, I don't know where you are or what you think is coming, the fact is that Matsuda was lucky. Renamon can make her way anywhere in the city at amazing speeds and that was the only thing that saved him. The others were lucky that they were near hospitals when this first showed up.

"I stand by what I told you in the past, Shibumi. Those kids can not Biomerge without killing themselves afterwards."

**And here you go. Long overdo, and I apologise.**


	8. Of Knights, Dragons and Demons

Alright, here's the next chapter in the series

**Alright, here's the next chapter in the series. To those who read the last one and had a few complaints, the answer is that this chapter was supposed to be part of it, but I decided to stop while I was ahead and just post what I had so as to wet your appe****tites… then I kind of got preoccupied with other things. **

**As for the delays in the posting, well the problem is that over the years, I have read numerous stories and got to the point where I've become very picky for proper writing style. I've gotten so picky in fact that I am hard pressed to read any stories since none of them have the style I am looking for. That also comes to my own writing since no matter what I do, it simply does not seem good enough to compare to the authors I admire on this site.**** So one reason for the delays, apart from me being the mother of all procrastinators is that I simply don't agree with what I am writing.**

**Another problem is that because it's been so long since I've last seen a Tamer's episode, I was forgetting what exactly I saw in the show. Watching the original Japanese version helped me understand that. Though the problem is that I've also seen the Digimon Evolution X movie, which I highly suggest you see it, and it made me realize how little I truly know about Digimon.**

**Thus I did some research on it and what I came to realize is that since I wish to stay true to the ways of the Digital World, I had to scrap the majority of what I had planned. Yep, half an outline tossed out the window. Makes me wish for the simpler times in High School when I didn't think much about style.**

**And yes, I do realize I focus a lot on Beelzemon, but his character is so much fun to write about that I can't help it. That and his role is key to introduce the main villains in this story.**

**So enough for this rant. Go, enjoy.**

**Oh, and my gratitude to Pheonixs****un who's review gave me the motivation I needed to finish this chapter.**

**Chapter 8**

**Of Knights, Dragons and Demons**

_**Good and Evil are merely perspective, but darkness is friend to neither- Ganondorf Dragmire**_

_With a snarl, Sakuyamon blew the rubble away from her. Breathing deeply, having been unable to__ put up her barrier when the dragon struck her, she shakily got to her feet, looking around what was once the business district of Shinjuku. Rubble and destroyed vehicles greeted her sight, with the odd corpse here and there. There was no sign of the Dragon or Beelzemon._

_Unsure as to how long it took to free herself and how long she was unconscious, Sakuyamon started to make her way through the rubble, unable to summon the strength needed to allow her to fly._

_It didn't take her long before she found the unconscious form of Jeri lying on her side, a battered Elecmon standing guard over her._

"_What happened?" She managed to rasp as she stumbled towards them, kneeling down to cradle Jeri in her arms._

"_The dragon went out of control." Answered Elecmon, weekly fighting off her attempts to pick him up, eventually giving in when he was unable to walk more than a few steps._

"_After that building collapsed on you, Beelzemon was the only one left to fight it." A bitter chuckle was let out "He never stood a chance. He managed to lure it maybe 50 feet away before it got him with its tail and launched a fireball directly at him, the shockwave knocked me out. I woke up maybe 10 minutes ago, I'm not too sure."_

"_Rest." She calmly said as she slowly began making her way in the general direction where Yamaki's temporary headquarters were located. "There is nothing more that we can do." Faint movement in her arms caused her to look down as Jeri weakly opened her eyes and stared up at the battered priestess._

"_We lost didn't we?" She mumbled before falling back into unconsciousness._

_Now, Sakuyamon was a proud warrior, a combination of two beings who were equally stubborn and had the potential for tactical brilliance. They had never officially lost a battle since they were usually aided (unwillingly) by their companions which often times managed to turn the tide._

_But now, in the midst of a desperate war, a new enemy that they had not expected entered the picture. They weren't ready for an enemy of that level and ferocity. The D-Reaper they understood. It planned and strategizes, doing what it was programmed to do. The dragon was a being that simply existed to destroy. They were completely outclassed. The results were a comatose Sakuyamon, a human and her partner in dire need of medical attention, and the Digimon that was probably their strongest ally was most likely dead._

"_Yes." Came the bitter response. "We lost."_

* * *

"Not that I'm complaining…okay yes, I am complaining, but can someone please tell me why we always have these meeting at my place?" Asked Henry, sitting on a chair, leaning forward on the back of it, one arm lazily swung around it, the other holding a half eaten apple.

"I told you before, your home is the most centralized location when you compare where we all live." Came the short reply from Rika, pointedly ignoring the argument that Kazu was having with Kenta about why Guardromon should evolve to the mega level. He was still irritated that after all these years Guardromon still could not make it to the mega level.

"Yes well, you should know that we all have school tomorrow." Ryo spoke up, absently tossing a bottle of water from one hand to the other. "Oh wait, silly me, I keep forgetting that we go to the same school."

"Look, just make this quick. I don't want to wake up Suzie and my family always gets nervous whenever we all meet up like this. Nothing good ever comes of it."

"Oh come on, just because we all meet up at this place, it doesn't mean that there's impeding doom coming our way." Terriermon piped in, shifting around to get more comfortable on Henry's head, something the Chinese boy had long ago grown accustomed to.

"It always means that." Henry signed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Couldn't this have waited until the weekend? I mean I'd rather not go to bed tonight and not sleep at all because due to…you know… the threat of our imminent demise."

"It involves the Digital Hazard." Spoke Renamon, fazing into view on the window ledge, startling Terriermon and causing him to fall off his Tamer's head and knock his own against the edge of the table before landing on the floor with a dull thump. Only MarineAngemon reacted to this, floating over to the rabbit to heal his wound.

Kazu, not hearing the comment, continued to argue with Kenta, ignorant that the spectacled boy was now only giving him half an ear, opting instead to focus on the Kitsune. Elecmon, curled up on Jeri's lap in a light doze, opened one eye in curiosity while Ryo buried his face in his hand, mumbling an incoherent phrase to himself.

Jeri opened her mouth in a silent O, lifting her index finger as if to say something, eventually deciding to stay silent, a small frown on her face. Rika, sitting on the arm rest of the couch, had her arms crossed below her breasts, waiting for the conversation to begin again, her bag lying at her feet.

Most of the Tamers present had their heads turned to Henry. The informal leader had a blank look on his face. Nearly a minute passed before he spoke again "Oh…well…yes that does pose a problem."

"Is it that dragon again?" The question was asked so softly that everyone, even Kazu who had elected to shut up since no one was listening to his complaints, turned their heads in order to better hear Jeri

"I…I mean…the Hazard was related to that dragon wasn't it?" Her hold tightened protectively over Elecmon as she recalled the incident. "The last time we fought it, it nearly killed us all, and none of you can Biomerge anymore."

"No, it's not the dragon." Ryo said, briefly laying a hand on her shoulder before pulling back, sitting back on the couch. "If it was, half of Tokyo would be destroyed by now and most of us would be dead. Did any of you check out your Digivices earlier when the electrical systems went haywire?"

"I forgot mine at home." spoke up Kazu.

"I was sleeping." Said Kenta.

"Saw it." Grumbled Elecmon

"Saw it!" Chirped Suzie

"Suzie I told you to go to bed."

"But this is important!"

"Don't make me bring dad into this."

"Fine. Lopmon, stay, you can tell me tomorrow."

Rika's lips twitched faintly upwards before turning to focus on Ryo, in no mood to explain anything until she had to.

"Well, we went to the park and discovered that the Hazard was connected to a mega called ChaosGallantmon…"

"Who, I may add, looks very much like one of the Royal Knights." Grumbled Terriermon, ignoring the warning glare that Renamon shot his way.

"Royal Knights?" Kenta asked, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head inquisitively.

"According to out lore, there are 13 Mega level Digimon put in the Royal Knight category, supposedly the best of the best. They watch over the Digital Realms but never act unless specifically ordered to." Spoke Elecmon, shaking his head a bit as he nuzzled his face into the crook of Jeri's arm.

"If they are so powerful, then who orders them around? And why do they never involve themselves in the Digital World? We could've used their help against the D-Reaper." Grumbled Kazu, wishing he could complain to someone, but since Guardromon was too big and heavy to be let inside the building, not to mention the only living being that could put up with Kazu for an indefinite amount of time, he could only sit back and sulk.

"That is none of your business." Intoned Renamon, giving an uncompromising look to each of the Digimon present, especially Terriermon. "If it is necessary we shall tell you, but now, it is not something humans should know about."

"Alright Renamon, I do believe that…"

"I said we shall not speak of this." Renamon interrupted, her tone clearly telling Rika to drop the subject.

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence, each person unsure how to react to the fact that Renamon stood up to Rika. Not unheard of, but quite a rare thing anyway.

"Moving on…" said Ryo "ChaosGallantmon seemed to have showed up, and it seemed heavily influenced by the Hazard. Renamon, you were close to it, what can you tell us."

"The Hazard corrupts data, if not properly controlled or sealed off it can grow in sufficient power to corrupt the Digital World and destroy it."

"Was it always around? Or did it just come about in the past few years?" asked Henry

"It's always been around." Said Terriermon, hopping up on the Tamer's back and then onto his head "It's been around longer than any of us can think back on. All I know is that it was sealed awhile ago by… well let's not go into that." Said Terriermon, making sure to not make contact with Renamon, her eyes narrowed in warning.

"So something or someone must have released it." Mumbled Ryo.

"No, the Hazard can not be sealed indefinitely." Spoke Renamon, one leg tucked up to her chest, her arm resting on it. "It is the duty of the Sovereigns to keep watch over the seal among with one of the Knights…"

"Which one?" Asked Kazu, laughing nervously as Renamon slowly tilted her head to look at him "Alright then…never mind."

"What Renamon is trying to say is that The Sovereigns did not have the time to go through with the appropriate… measures to re-strengthen the seal due to the interference of the D-Reaper" Spoke Lopmon. The former Deva hoped up on to the couch, settling herself down. "The Hazard escaped its containment and to properly carry out its function, it chose a Digimon as a host."

"Who was it?" Asked Rika, pointedly looking at Lopmon, the Deva knowing more about the inner working of the Digital World than any other present.

"I do not know, all I know is that the dragon is the final form the hazard takes when it fully corrupts the Digimon."

"And do you know the name of this creature?" Henry asked. He wasn't sure why, but those who were actually close enough to confront the Dragon had never mentioned its name. The Tamers were too busy trying to stay alive, while the Digimon should've immediately gained information on its data.

"We know it. It was simply forbidden to mention its name in the Digital World. By law of Azulongmon." Spoke Elecmon, the soft rasp surprising everyone. The rookie rarely ever spoke more than a few words in a meeting, his form making him more willing to sleep than do much of anything else.

"Well this isn't the Digital World so say the name already." Snapped Rika, irritated by the Digimon's sudden belief that they're partners should be kept out of the loop. "Look, the Hazard is back so we don't have the time for all this crap. We need to know what we're up against so spill it."

"Rika, we do not speak of it because it is the greatest shame that happened to the Digital World." Spoke Lopmon "It is not because the law demands it, but also because it is to respect the Three Great Dragons."

His interest caught, Ryo arched his eyebrow. "Wait a minute, the Great Dragons? I heard of those in the time I spent in the Digital World. I thought there were four."

"Once. Long ago." Replied Elecmon "I'm surprised you knew that. No outsider is supposed to know about their history. Yes there were four once, but the fourth attempted to gain enough power to open a rift between the realms and in doing so, created the Hazard that split the quadrants from one another."

"Wait a minute here; I remember reading about these Great Dragon cards a few years ago. There was Goldramon, Azulongmon, and Magnadramon. If this Hazard monster is the fourth then what is it called?"

There was a silence that lasted several minutes as the Digimon silently debated with each other over what they should do. Finally, all eyes landed on the one who knew the most about the history of the Digital World.

Giving a resign sigh, Lopmon hung her head and spoke so softly that even Terriermon had to lift his ear to hear her.

"Megidramon."

* * *

"_Will you not join them, child?" Came the thunderous voice._

_The land was barren, a wasteland that contained nothing aside from Digital ports and the thunderclouds above them, occasionally lighted with a flash of lightning._

_Takato glanced towards the orb of light, the only way that Azulongmon could communicate with him, given the crisis they currently faced._

_Looking down the cliff, he could faintly make out the outlines of the tamers that he had followed into this world, all of them piling into the machine, dubbed the ark that would return them home. At his side, his muzzle lying on the ground, lay Guilmon, his tail slowly wagging back and forth in anticipation, wanting to return to his birthplace._

"_No." He finally said. "I mean, I'll go, but only when we're Biomerged. Actually, I think I'll just hitch a ride on top of that thing and make a run for it when we make it to the other side."_

"_The ark was created so that the tamers could seek refuge in it, to protect them from the transition from data into matter. If you do not go within it, I can not foresee what it will do to you. But I am fairly certain that it shall not be pleasant."_

"_Yeah, well I'll take that risk."_

"_Your desire to stay hidden from them is irrational, young one. You would rather risk your own safety to remain anonymous to them?"_

"_Yes, well I don't understand it myself. Part of me wants to go out and say hi to them, especially Jeri, but yet…I can't. I don't know why, I just can't."_

_A deep sigh caused Takato's hair to stand on end. No matter how much respect he had for the sovereign, he had to admit that no one was meant to be so close to their booming voice. Communication orb or no communication orb…thingy._

"_How about you answer me this: I attacked your fire bird pal; I deleted several of his Devas and managed to defeat his merc buddy, Beelzemon. By all rights you should be trying to kill me."_

"_Would you prefer that I do so?"_

"_Um…no."_

"_Then I suggest you don't look a gift mega in the tooth."_

"_Isn't that teeth?"_

"_I doubt you are any bigger than one of my fangs."_

"_Point taken. So…well… why are you helping me?"_

"_I have developed an interest in your abilities, young one."_

"_What abilities? I can draw but that's about it."_

"_Did you not create your partner? That on its own is a marvelous ability."_

"_Well…I guess that is pretty cool."_

"_Tell me, what is that symbol upon Guilmon's chest?"_

"_What that thing? I don't know, I just drew it on him 'cause I thought it'd be cool, you know, give him a tattoo or something."_

"_And has it ever given you any problems?"_

"_What? Well, G__uilmon doesn't listen to me when his stomach is involved, and I have noticed him go a little crazy when fighting, but he always listens to me during that."_

"_Hmm, curious."_

_Takato just starred oddly at the orb, for some reason thinking of an elderly man stroking a long white beard._

"_Why? What's so curious?__"_

"_Well…oh, the ark is leaving. If you wish to go home, I suggest you leave now."_

"_Hey, you're changing the topic and…oh…you're right. Well, nice meeting you, gottogoseeyabye." Nudging Guilmon, Takato stood up and started running down the hill, fumbling with his Digivice. A flash of light later, the two were replaced by a tall silver knight bounding down the hill, a shield and lance replacing his arms._

_Miles away, in the middle of a hopeless battle, Azulongmon paused, looking to the south where the Tamers had departed towards so many hours ago. A thoughtful expression formed on his face, ignoring Zhuqiomon's roars of fury as his attacks did nothing to harm the D-Reaper._

"_Gallantmon…? Yet it is not him… most interesting."_

* * *

**Your fault… you Bastard! The world changed…but you wouldn't. So they chose me. They chose the man who would kill over the man who wouldn't… and now they're dead. A million ghosts. Punish me. Lock me away. Kill me. Just make the ghosts go away. – Magog, **_**Kingdom Come**_

Consciousness slowly came back to him. Blinking in confusion, Takato looked around the room, realizing he was curled up on his side.

Slowly, he rolled over on his back, absently staring at the ceiling, trying to remember how he got where he was. Realizing that he wasn't going to get much done, he sat up in bed and threw his legs over the edge.

It was about then he realized that his body ached all over. Groaning, and cursing the truck that must've hit him, he shakily stood up and took a few steps forward before his legs gave up underneath him and he went falling face first on the wooden floor.

"Okay…" He said, his voice coming out in a dry rasp, his nose pressed rather uncomfortably into the floor. "That hurt."

"That looked like it did." Came a heavily accented voice. Tilting his head up, Takato let out a confused grunt when he saw a disheveled looking man, a week's worth of facial hair covering his face, looking down at him.

Blinking, Takato stared back at him, unsure what to think. Opening his mouth, he tried to speak, only to let a confused grunt escape him.

"The name's Gourgon." Spoke the man as he kneeled down in front of him. "In case you're wondering, you're in my…unique workplace." Takato winced as the man helped him up, his legs starting to regain feeling. Doing his best to ignore the sensation of thousands of fire ants crawling along them, he blinked back a few tears and finally managed to ask his question.

"Why am I here?" He asked as Gourgon led him back to the bed, propping his back up against the pillow.

"The Imp and the Fox brought you here, you were suffering from Merging Trauma."

"Merging…what?" Muttered the confused boy. Sighing, Gourgon went back into his office and handed Takato a flask with a foul smelling concoction within it, urging him to drink it.

Forcing down the foul tasting brew, Takato immediately began to feel more aware of his surroundings as he sat down to listen to Gourgon's theory on what happened to him. Well, what he could understand anyway.

* * *

Silence reigned in the room. Lopmon, had not uttered a word since she mentioned the Corrupted Dragon Lord.

"How…how does this relate to ChaosGallantmon?" Henry had stood up from his chair, his apple laying forgotten on the table. Moving towards the tanned rabbit, he sat down next to her and lifted her up on his lap, gently running a hand along her right ear.

"Megidramon is the representation of the Hazard at its most corrupt. Blood lust, uncontrollable fury, this gives the Hazard complete control over the Digimon. ChaosGallantmon…is another more…controllable form of the Hazard. It is controlled anger, it will only respond if attacked first."

"Let me get this straight." Kazu mumbled through gritted teeth, his jaw aching from the pressure he had been steadily applying to it. "Megidramon and this ChaosGallantmon freak are essentially the same being?" His temper now getting the best of him, his voice gradually increased until he was screaming loud enough for Janyuu to enter the room. "Would it have hurt you to tell us this like, oh I don't know, years ago?"

"We thought it was deleted by the D-Reaper." Renamon sharply interrupted. "There was no way that we could have known it had survived."

"Even then, there are never complete certainties to anything." Ryo said, his voice going a few octaves lower. "You should have told us this, precautions could have been made, now we have to deal with an unpredictable force."

"Believe me, things could be a lot worse." SaidTterriermon, jumping down onto Rika's lap, who promptly shoved the Rabbit off. Spreading his ears to glide down, he landed on the floor. "Trust me, the Hazard does not have complete control yet, and if it does, a Royal Knight will be forced to get involved."

"Not to mention that Impmon seems intent on hunting him down." Added Rika, remembering the prior conversation that she saw Renamon have with Impmon.

Kazu snorted at that. "Great, so we have a rogue Imp that will probably only antagonize it even further and the only way that this will be solved is if we fuck up so badly that the Royal Knights have to come in and save us from this mess. You know, I would actually like to live through High School, you all realize this right?"

"What can we do to keep things from getting worse?" Henry spoke up, ignoring the other teen, glancing at Lopmon, then at Renamon.

"The best thing to do is to find the container and keep it calm before it can let the Hazard take control again."

"Oh and exactly where are we supposed to find a digimon in a city this size?" Kazu said, sarcasm clear in his tone.

"Quite easily." Said Rika, having opened her bag and taking out a notebook, tossing it towards Henry.

Said teen opened it half way and arched an eyebrow at what he saw "So…pigeons in a park?" He asked, tilting his head as he inspected the sketch before him.

A twitch of an eyebrow was the only sign of her irritation. "Turn the pages smartass." Terriermon snatched up the note book before Henry could say anything and flipped through a few more pages before letting out a low whistle.

"Geez, since when do you and Jeri pose like this." Ryo looked over his shoulder, adding a whistle of his own. Curious, Henry looked over as well and immediately felt his face flush, coughing and looking away. Jeri, who had heard her name, looked over and let out a small eep, followed by a blush with an indignant look on her face.

Muttering, Rika snatched up the notebook and let out a curse as she saw a sketch of herself in a swimsuit on one page, and Jeri in a similar outfit across from it, both girl's curves clearly exaggerated, from the curve of the hip, to the swell of both their busts. Furiously, she flipped the pages over to find sketches of other girls in her class sketched in the same manner.

"Gotta say, whoever did this has taste." Chirped Terriermon, a wicked grin forming on his face as he tried to grasp the book from her hands, letting out a sudden yelp as Rika lifted her foot and stomped down on his head.

Seething, her foot still grinding the rabbit's face into the floor, she flipped through the book before finding the page she wanted and tossing it back to Henry, making silent vows to hurt the artist.

Henry studied the image for a few minutes, his face completely neutral. Finaly he looked up at her, his eyes narrowed. "Where did you find this." He asked in a tone that reminded the group why they chose him as the leader in times of crisis.

"What do you mean?" Asked Ryo. Never taking his eyes off Rika, Henry placed the book back down and the group took a look. Jeri let out a low moan, Ryo let out a resigned sigh, Kenta arched an eyebrow and Kazu started to swear viciously, recognizing the old drawing that a boy had shown him a lifetime ago.

Admittedly, the data describing the red reptilian creature was impressive, clearly showing signs of being one of the best Digimon of its level, however it was the symbol on its chest that caught their attention. While the sketch was childish looking, showing rooms for improvement, on the reptile's chest showed a perfectly drawn image of the Hazard.

"Guilmon." Were the words that escaped Henry's lips, reading the name above the image's head.

"I've seen this creature before." Said Rika, beginning to pace. "A few times, several years ago before I met you. I could have sworn that I saw it in the Digital World as well. Anyway, I tried to delete it, Renamon gave it quite a beating, but it endured and got away from us."

"Wait…so this thing was created?" Asked kenta, picking up the book to study the data written all over the page. "Is that even possible."

"We were created by humans." Said Lopmon, helping up a dazed Terriermon "It took many humans and computers but they did. Yet the D-Arcs are very advanced pieces of technology, and from what I heard of them, it is theoretically possible for a human to create his own partner."

"If that's true, then who created it." Asked Ryo, turning his gaze to Rika.

She was beaten to the answer as Kazu, his afce suddenly pale, collapsed on a chair "Takato Matsuda."

Everyone looked at each other oddly, the name sounding familiar, but wondering how Kazu could make the connection. However they were interrupted when Cyberdramon burst through the window.

* * *

_Ten minutes earlier_

He had just left the twins. Came over, avoided their mother as she asked, played with them, made them laugh, helped them with schoolwork, then waited as they went to bed. Sighing, Impmon left the house. Those were the rules made by their parents, he was not aloud in the house after they went to bed, nor allowed to move about freely in front of the paremts. Seven years and they still did not trust him.

Narrowing his eyes, he made a huffing noise and began to jump from building to building, heading for the bridge and the river where he could be alone. The neighborhood faded away and the minutes passed until he was finaly alone. Sighing, he absently lit and unlit a fireball before jumping into the shadows.

He had been tossed around today, yelled at by the folks and kicked by the vixen, not exactly one of his best days, but he would be damned if her let that bastard keep following him.

Shifting into his mega form, he took out one of his guns and quickly made his way through the shadows and doubled back on whoever was following him. Only making out a figure in a long cloak and what seemed to be a long white beard, he landed behind it and pressed the gun to the back of its head.

"I don't like being followed." He growled, waiting for the person's excuse.

Instead, a low, cackling voice was his answer "You're getting rusty." Came a voice, withered with age. "In the past you never would have come this close to me unprepared."

Alright, rules or no rules he had enough. He sneered as he pulled the trigger, only to be surprised as his finger wouldn't move. In fact he couldn't will any part of his body to move, not even an eyelid.

"Surprised?" Asked the creature as it turned to face him, face still covered by a hood. "I would feel disappointed if I weren't too surprised. You act like him, look like him, but I keep having to remind myself that you aren't him. I mean he of all creatures never would have forgotten my abilities"

Beelzemon would've demanded what he was talking about but he couldn't even will himself to speak. All he could do was feel a growing sense of horror as the creature pulled down it's hood.

A wrinkled face covered by a long bushy beard that ended at it's hips, it's grey hair going even further down, with pointed ears extending from the side of its head. Four red bat shapped wings sprouted from its back where a dark poncho rested with an archaic set of jewelry around its neck.

He didn't know why, but instinct demanded that he run. Now. The creature grinned as it leaned on it's staff, along wooden one with a skull resting on the top. "Well, at least your instincts are properly reacting. Now, if you will listen, I'm here to make a proposition for you." It was interrupted as a heavy body flew down and smashed into it, sending the old creature stumbling back.

Beelzemon could finally move. Not thinking twice, he fired three times on the creature as he jumped back. Glancing around he saw Cyberdramon floating a few feet away from him.

"Run…now." Growled the dramon. "Demon lord."

If he could have, Beelzemon's face would have gone pale. Not good, this was definitely not good. "Get out of here, now!" he roared towards' Cyberdramon, pulling out his other gun and aiming it towards the Demon who was recovering from the surprise attack.

"Go! You're no match for him. Get the others, I'll hold him off." Cyberdramon growled in response, opposed to retreating. Yet knowing when it was outmatched, something that Ryo drilled into it over the years, it flew off towards the location of its partner.

Swearing under his breath, Beelzemon continued to back away, firing as much as necessary, frowning as the Demon twirled its staff around to parry the shots. In retaliance, it extended its staff and a blast of green energy shot out, hitting Beelzemon and sending him flying.

He landed, winded, onto the shore of the river, the lights of the bridge shining not too far off.

"You should know that you cannot win. Your past self knew that at least. He knew his place and followed orders, you should to. It could save you unnecessary injury."

Beelzemon groaned as he got onto all fours, forcing himself up, letting out a pained groan, feeling as though several knives were buried in his abdomen.

"Oh come on now child, be reasonable. I'm here to make an offer which could benefit us al after what is to come."

Gritting his teeth, Beelzemon willed energy into his fingertips. "Fuck…you." He growled before slashing forward, energy flowing off his nails and impacting the demon, sending it careening back.

Just as quickly, it recovered and waved its staff, fire suddenly surrounding Beelzemon. Jumping into the air, he cursed as it followed him up and hit him in the lower back, sending him spiraling uncontrollably towards the ground. The demon suddenly appeared where he would have landed and slapped him away with his staff.

"Now, must we continue?" It nonchalantly asked as it approached him. Its response was a gunshot to the head, causing its head to be thrown back.

Ever so slowly, it brought it's head down, fingers nursing a mark on its forehead. "Well, looks like you still need to be taught a lesson. Here's something I learned over the years. Now Lilithmon keeps saying that I'm wasting time by learning to control my powers so perfectly, but you see, it works ever so well to keep everyone in line." It kneeled down next to Beelzemon and pressed a hand onto his back, preventing him from getting up any further "You see, control is what everything comes down to. Absolute control." It let out a small chuckle as its hand started to glow "Pandemonium Lost."

* * *

"I said I was sorry." Shouted Ryo from Cyberdramon's back, glancing back at Henry who was perched on Rapidmon's shoulder.

"He destroyed my room Ryo, an apology isn't going to work."

"Look, we're getting closer all right, can't we just leave this for…"

Ryo suddenly feel silent as an ear splitting shriek of agony echoed through the air, the voice sounding all too familiar.

"Cyberdramon." Shouted Ryo, the silent order to go faster immediately executed.

In less than a minute they landed 50 meters away from their target.

"Uh…guys…imp boy is down." Muttered Rapidmon as Kyyubimon appeared next to him, a slightly disoriented Rika slowly getting off her back.

Rika let out a curse as The figure stood up over Impmon's motionless form, a thin cloud of smoke stemming off of him.

"Rika…" Warned Kyyubimon, stepping in front of her protectively, glaring at the figure.

"It won't scan." Muttered Henry, his D-arc showing nothing but static.

"We don't need to scan him." Muttered Ryo, fingers nimbly skimming through his deck for the needed cards.

"You shouldn't be here." Boomed Antylamon as she landed in front of the group of tamers, addressing the figures. "When the sovereigns find out what you've done…"

"They'll do nothing." Snapped the figure, grabbing Impmon's form and throwing it at their feet. "They can't do anything, you people ensured that."

"The Royal Knights will have your head for this." She hissed, hands turning into battle axes.

"The Royal Knights are dying, most were eradicated in the purge and the rest are too busy ensuring the protection of Yggdrasil."

"The others will never follow you."

"The others already have." laughed the figure as it began to float upwards. "Lucemon is dead. Half of us were killed long ago, and now I am in charge. Lucemon's vision died with him, and it was because of him that we were imprisoned." Rika could feel Kyyubimon's apprehension as the figure began to glow ominously, the darkness seeming to drift around him.

"You all had the chance to kill us but that chance has long past. The Dominion of the sovereigns is over, the rule of Barbamon has begun." The Demon of Greed paused long enough for everyone to see his grin.

"Try to make this entertaining. Pandemonium Lost!"

For a brief moment, night began day as Barbamon was consumed in his glow. Then there was but darkness.

**Sorry about Takato's scene, but I had no idea how to properly do it, so I toned it down to simply get through it. Competent Beta Readers would be appreciated.**


	9. Irony

Alright, thanks for the reviews from the previous chapters, especially those from Phoenixsun and Crazyeight, your reviews were a great motivator and thanks for pointing out the errors in the previous chapter

**Alright, thanks for the reviews from the previous chapters, especially those from Phoenixsun and Crazyeight, your reviews were a great motivator and thanks for pointing out the errors in the previous chapter. I was afraid something like that could happen but couldn't be bothered to go back and check as I was in too much of a hurry to post it.**

**And yes, I am well aware of the differences in Takato's original sketch of Guilmon… I simply chose to ignore it.**

**So basically the explanation for the mistakes in the last chapter: A wizard did it.**

**Now if only I could get past the "improvise and see how it goes" stage.**

**Irony**

**You are already ****broken. You are nothing. A disappointment! You've got no spine! You have nothing… I am Bane and I could kill you, but death would only end your agony—and silence your shame. Instead I will simply…Break you! - **_**Bane, Knightfall**_

_A flash__ of lightning, the screech of metal being torn asunder and an echoing scream were resounding in Gallantmon's skull as Barbamon's hand punched through Magnamon's chest, going clean through until it pierced through the other side. The exalted Knight didn't make a sound as his hands fell away from the one that was crushing his throat. All he could manage was to bring his gaze down to stare at the arm thrust into him, as though stunned._

_Time seemed to catch up though and soon his body exploded into data._

_It was then that Gallantmon realized that the screaming was coming from him, grief and rage coursing through him as he watched the murder of his long time friend._

_Scoffing, Barbamon absently wiped his arm against his robes watching as the data gradually disappeared. A shame really, perfectly good data gone to waste. Yggdrasil learned from its earlier mistake, after Daemon and Belphemon absorbed the remains of Sleipmon and Leopardmon. After the great increase in power that the two demons went through, it programmed a virus that would instantly effect any who absorbed the data of one of its guardians. Daemon died very painfully after he got greedy and absorbed Dynasmon in Lucemon's place… not that it did the former leader of the Demon Lords any good as Omnimon cut off his head as soon as Daemon collapsed._

_Lilithmon was already captured, at the cost of UlforceVeedramon's wings and right eye. Belphemon was eventually overwhelmed when all four Sovereigns ambushed him. He was the only Digimon who's data Zhuqiaomon had ever refused to absorb._

_Beelzemon had been taken out by Craniamon and Crusadermon less than a week after the war began._

_The avatar of greed frowned as he recalled Crusadermon. That crazy bastard had no right to be in the ranks of the knights, his cruelty and actions would have been of great use to the Demons, yet he was soundly in Drasil's pocket. A shame really, he had been quite vicious in attacking Beelzemon at his most vulnerable, going as far as inflicting torture before Craniamon ordered him to stop._

_The elder being turned to glare at the broken knight before him, lance having long been shattered, shield cracked and dented. Narrowing his eyes, he levitated towards him, disappearing a the shield launched towards him, appearing at the Knight's side before slamming his staff into Gallantmon's side, sending him flying through a pillar._

_Coughing, the container managed to drag himself up, leaning against the stump of the pillar, face plate heavily cracked. He was done; the ceremony took too much out of him. He couldn't summon enough energy to create a new lance, much less move. Both beings knew all too well the outcome of this battle. It didn't matter, the knights had won the war. Barbamon was all that's left._

"_Where is it boy?" Growled Barbamon as he appeared beside him, staff striking out and breaking his leg. A resounding cry echoed through the ruins of the temple as Gallantmon fell to his knees. "Where is the hazard?"_

_Gallantmon's shoulders trembled slightly before arching up and down, a small chuckle escaping him, escalating into hysterical laughter. "Do you really need to ask?"_

"_Sealed then." Sighed Barbamon "Along with the powers of Envy am I correct?"_

_Dragging himself along the broken marble, the knight managed to twist himself on his back as he leaned against the remains of a broken statue of his long departed leader. His armor was crushed against his chest, making it difficult to breathe. "It's over, Demon. The others are on their way, you can't escape this time."_

_Barbamon nodded as he kneeled down next to the knight, staff firmly planted within a crack between the tiles. He couldn't escape, the knights would find him. His armies were vanquished, his allies imprisoned or dead, and he arrived too late. The ceremony was complete, the hazard was resealed._

"_You're right. It is over for the both of us." He didn't miss the way the knight relaxed, accepting his fate. "You were a worthy foe, you survived the worst of it, but in the end, you destroyed my only hope." A gnarled hand extended, placing it on the knight's shoulder. He still had a bit of time left. "This will not be quick."_

_Gallantmon nodded, too weak to move. "I never though it would."_

_The aged face turned into a smirk "Crimson flame."_

* * *

Guilmon woke up with a start, his head bolting upright from its position on his paws, tilting his head left and right for any signs of immediate danger. Groaning, he paused and rested his head back on its resting place, the cause of his panic receding from his mind. He couldn't quite recall what he had dreamt, but he couldn't recall the last time he felt such rage and fear.

Grumbling, he brought his paw over his eyes in order to block the light and to try to fall back to sleep. However his ears perked up when he heard a familiar voice. Grinning, he jumped up and ran through several rooms, the walls and tiles matching perfectly in their white complexion, assorted computers, notes stuck to the walls and lab equipment covering most of the tables.

Finally he barged into the room where Takato and the scruffy looking doctor were located, each one sitting opposite each other on a thin plastic chair. Takato took a moment to look over at him, offering him a weak smile before focusing his attention back on the man in front of him, one hand absently scratching the base of Guilmon's wing shaped ear.

"So…" He began… "You and these other digital analysts always knew about me?" He carefully asked, beginning to wonder how careless he'd gotten over the years

"Not you precisely." Replied Gourgon, taking a sip from a cup of cold coffee, grimacing as he swallowed it, wondering it exactly how long it's been out. "We always knew there were other Tamers out there, we knew that there was one in Shinjuku that stayed off the grid, we just never bothered to look too deeply on it as we were more preoccupied with keeping stability. Admittedly if we found out about your circumstances earlier, especially that of your partner we would have contacted you earlier."

"Hey, something like this never happened before." Takato replied, bringing a hand up in protest. He remembered being merged with Guilmon, but for the life of him, it didn't seem as though he was really there, more like acting on instinct and rage. He didn't care about what he did…it was…relaxing in a way, to be able to do anything he wanted and damn the consequences.

"Well…yes, it did." Replied Gourgon, downing the last of his coffee. "Seven years ago, when this dragon showed up and attacked the D-Reaper, the symbol of the Hazard appeared on all nearby screens, the same happened earlier today…or yesterday depending on your perspective." He added, waving towards a nearby clock. "That and the fact that both beings held the Hazard and you were linked to each incident, it does make one worry."

"So why are you even bothering to talk to me?" a hand came up to scratch his head, blinking slightly, unsure as to how he should feel while the strange man in front of him casually explained to him, not judging him at all for his involvements in Megidramon's murders.

"Well, there is trouble brewing. I and my cohorts have been aware of it for a few years now. It is just that with everything going on in the past few days, the lack of many Digimon coming through recently, and that there are signs that the Juggernaut program has reemerged has led us to believe that there is something…well something amiss at work."

"And what exactly is this Juggernaut program?" Asked Takato, his fingers dancing over his legs, tilting his head around in circles as his muscles began to relax, the sharp ache beginning to fade from his body. Taking a risk, he lifted his right arm, open and closed a fist and extended his arm, rotating sharply, wincing as the muscles and ligaments let out a sharp crack.

"The Juggernaut program was created seven years ago. Its original purpose was to wipe out all Digimon that were in our realm." Gourgon drawled out, rotating on his chair and pushing his legs off of the floor, causing it to roll backwards towards a computer. Typing in several commands, he nodded as the specified files popped up. "Now, the person who created the program was urgently trying to get rid of this so called blight and activated it prematurely, which caused, as you should remember, the rifts being our worlds to lessen, causing more Digimon to come through, including those Devas." That said, pictures of a Tiger, a gigantic horse shaped being and one seriously big pig appeared on the screen, causing Takato to nod in rememberance, having been forced to intervene on the rare occasion. "Now there is still one left, that rabbit that partnered up with Susie Wong, but she has proven to be docile. The tamers trust her so that is good enough in my books.

"Now for some reason or another, the head of the operation had a change of heart and focused on finishing the Juggernaut program, planning to use it as a last resort, which inevitably led him to alter its purpose which led to the destruction of the D-Reaper and the temporary withdrawal of all Digimon in the province."

"So why are you telling me this? I mean it's nice to know how we managed to survive that thing, but really, I didn't need to know." Mumbled Takato, letting his hand fall off the chair to brush his fingers against Guilmon's ears, watching in amusment as they flickered violently.

"The problem is that people are tampering with Juggernaut, and by rights they shouldn't be able to." Gourgon let out a sigh, bringing a hand up to rub the bridge of his nose before bringing up the picture of a scowling man with surprisingly blond hair and a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes.

"Why not?"

"Because only the man who created it, Mitsuo Yamaki, had the codes and clearance necessary to even get into its files."

"Then just call him up, tell him to stop." A dry, humorless laugh escaped Gourgon as he tilted his head to the side to stare at Takato. "What?"

"It's just that he's supposed to be dead." He waited for a moment as Takato's face shifted from confusion to growing comprehension. "So we're dealing with a man who's either gone rogue, or who's been captured. Either way that's not good. His knowledge of Juggernaut, if put in the wrong hands, can potentially be used as a powerful weapon."

"Yes but against the digital world." Added Takato. "However… why do you care, I mean if he hates Digimon and built it to destroy them, why should you care?"

"You have a point; however Juggernaut is a program that can easily spread over communication devises, with the appropriate upgrades. If one figures out how to do that, then they could completely shut down an entire country. Computers, communications, defenses and all that. No one has had the chance to study the Juggernaut so as to create the appropriate fail safes. When we moved to demand that Yamaki surrender the needed codes, his apartment building blew up. Took them a while but they found his corpse. Charred, but autopsy and dental records proved that it was him. We then moved to hack into Juggernaut but all the files were missing, we couldn't find a single trace of it. Some thought that he destroyed it so they let it rest…but recent events proved otherwise."

"Why? What's going on?" Takato hesitantly asked, dreading the answer, suddenly feeling that he was being dragged into something and that he didn't have a choice in the matter.

"As of four hours ago, my partners have lost contact with the Tamers in the United States, Britain and Russia. The operative within the Russian military had enough time to send out a distress signal to warn about what was happening before the line died. Currently we have warned the remaining ones in France, but I don't know what to expect. So among with the testing of Juggernaut, there is now evidence that all those with Digimon partners are being targeted."

"So what, you're warning me?" asked Takato as he stood up to glance at the files of each individual Tamer and his partner that Gourgon allowed to flash along his screen.

"That and you're a wild card. I estimate it'll take them a bit longer to figure out who you are. Our plan is to fill you in on the situation and as soon as we get bigger leads, we'll send you and the other Tamers in after them."

"Woah, now hold on there." Spoke up Takato, taking a step back. "I don't care what you think we can do, but we are still only kids. Fighting Digimon is one thing, but I can't fight humans, and I doubt that they can either."

A thin smile formed on the older man's lips. "You don't know what they've been through."

* * *

"He's heading towards the business district." Said Henry as he watched the vents happening on the screen of his D-Arc.

"We're on it." Said Ryo, swiping a card "Cyberdramon will hit him from the side, Rapidmon will attack from behind with supportive fire. Kenta?"

"In position, Antylamon is almost at the point where she can cut him off."

Silence reigned as the three tamers stared at the holographic screen projected from their devices, doing their best to ignore the sprawled form of Renamon. Rika was kneeling next to her, her legs cradling the Kitsune's head. Her fur was torn and matted with dirt and a few specks of data were floating off of her, strained breathing making its way out. The rest of the tamers fared no better. Henry was lying on the ground, having lost feeling in his right leg; Ryo was trying not to move at all, believing to have cracked a rib, he could barely use his left arm, which made card swiping difficult and his shirt was ripped in several places, a small amount of blood staining different areas of it. Kenta was better off, MarineAngemon having had the chance to cover him in a protective bubble before the attack hit, leaving him only with a few bruises. Rika's hair broke out its bun, spilling haphazardly down her back, a long scratch along her forehead, a steady trickle of blood seeping down her face, blinding her left eye, forcing it shut. Her shirt was torn up, the right sleeve completely disintegrated and a long cut on her midrift left a portion of it hanging to the side, a shallow cut

They all knew it could have been much worse. They weren't too sure how it happened, but Kyubimon had managed to digivolve at the last moment and bring up her Talisman Spell before the transformation was even complete. The result was that she and her shield took the full force of the attack, effectively canceling her transformation and rending her unconscious. For a few minutes her body phased in and out before stabilizing, bringing much needed relief to her partner.

Kazu was sitting on a piece of debris, something that might have once been a lamp post. He had been behind Kazu's bubble and Guardromon, allowing them to take the attack, leaving him with a few minor scratches. "Guys? What are our chances, honestly?"

"A lot better than if he was fighting at full strength." Mumbled Ryo, swiping several other cards, gritting his teeth each time he had to twist his arm at an angle in order to properly swipe.

"You mean that freak is toying with us?" Moaned Kazu, burying his face into his hands, cursing loudly.

"To some extent. By rights he should have gotten bored by now." Added Kenta, his explanation interrupted by the faint musical chime of a phone. Tilting his head around, he looked around before making his way to a discarded phone, its silver surface scratched and burnt, making him wonder how it could still be working. Hesitating for a few seconds, he flipped it open and brought the cracked piece to his ears, ignoring the stares directed towards him. "Hello?" What followed was some static before the line cleared and he visibly winced. "Uh…Rika? It's for you."

Tilting her head up, her one open eye bloodshot, she extended her arm as Kenta approached her and took her phone. "What is it?" She hoarsely asked, tensing up in shock before an irritated scowl formed on her lips. "Major Kubo, how lovely to hear you again… We're taking care of it… I know damn well where it is… Right now I wouldn't worry about the collateral damage… Damnit it isn't that easy… What class? It's a…will you shut up, I said it's a Type A mega level…virus… Demon Lord family… Beelzemon was taken out… I don't know where he is, there was an explosion and I lost track of the body… Look we can…just give us…fine." She closed the phone with a slap and made a noise of disgust as the ear piece fell off. "We have five minutes, then the army steps in."

* * *

_**As every great warrior knows, there are some battles you know you can win, and some battles you know you will lose. In the second case, you haul ass and get the hell out of there.-Anonymous**_

"Sonovabitch, sonovabitch, sonovabitch." Chanted Rapidmon as he flew through the residential area of Shinjuku, dodging another river of fire that was launched his way. Cursing repeatedly, he let himself descend before firing three rockets at Barbamon, grumbling as the mega casually avoided them. He then let out an eep as the mega appeared in front of him and cracked him in the face.

Flying back head over heels, he managed to level himself out, shaking his head "Henry! The cards aren't working!"

"_Yeah yeah, hold on…speed activate!"_

"Oh this is really going to hurt." He mumbled as he felt the energy rush through him. With a howl, he fired his rocket boosters, seeming to materialize behind the avatar of greed and brought both canons down in between his shoulders, sending the demon flying downwards, only to stop itself several meters above the street and dodge upwards in order to avoid Cyberdramon's claws.

With a snarl, the feral dramon brought its claw back into a fist, before thrusting out his arm, growling "Hand of Fate." The beam of light struck the demon, causing him to grunt as he lost control over his flight vector, followed by a cackle mixed with a yelp when Rapidmon flew into his side, sending the elder being crashing into a building. Panting, the robotic Digimon flew into the newly created hole in the wall, bashing his left canon into the side of Barabamon's face, sending him reeling into a cubicle. Seeing that his attack hadn't even left a bruise, Rapidmon muttered a few intelligible words before firing both of his canons again.

With a grin, Barbamon appeared behind the Machine and released a river of flames from his hand, his eyebrow twitching in irritation as Rapidmon vanished followed by a blow to his back, sending the demon flying out a different wall.

"Henry…I can't keep this u." Rapidmon panted, shooting out several homing missiles at the soaring form before flying after it. Sure he was fast, but the amount of speed cards that Henry boosted him up with had already exceeded his limits, he was quickly running out of energy.

"L_et me worry about that, you focus on hurting the bastard."_

Groaning in exhaustion, he dodged the form of Cyberdramon of which Barbamon had intercepted and thrown his way, barrel rolled around another river of fire and scissor kicked the demon in the side, wincing visibly as his armor cracked and Barbamon barely stumbled away.

"My turn." He uttered before slamming the head of his staff into Rapidmon's face, spinning him around in a 180 degree angle, followed by a burst of green life that sent the android careening down into the streets, creating a small crater. Letting out a tisking noise, he half heartedly dodged several swiped of Cyberdramon's claws, letting out a hum of interest as Rapidmon suddenly got up as though nothing had happened. This momentary lapse of his attention cost him as sharp claws racked across his face, not enough to break skin, but enough to stun him.

"Desolation Claw!" The attack send him careening downwards, cursing loudly as the energy pellets entered into his data stream, disrupting his systems, causing him to lose control of his body.

"Say hello to my little friends: Rapid fire!" Two missiles struck him in the lower back, his descent altering from vertical to a horizontal path. Letting out a sigh as yet another building rapidly approached him; he did his best to try to brace himself, grunting when his body came to a violent stop, his head continuing its forward momentum to crack into the wall.

"…Ow." Was the muffled response, face contorting in disgust as the foul taste of the concrete filled his senses, unable to properly shift his tongue away from it. A thankful sigh was released as the being holding his leg slowly peeled him off of the building, eyes tilting up to see Antylamon dangling him upside down, one arm shifted into an axe, deeply imbedded into the building, holding her up. "Much obliged madam."

"Oh I wouldn't say that just yet." Came a masculine response, his field of vision suddenly being taken up by Rapidmon. "Lets just see how you like this: Tri-Beam!"

The green triangle seemed to slowly extend from his body before engulfing the demon, sending him squawking towards the ground, landing upon a car. Before the demon recovered, Antylamon landed in front of him, cracking the street beneath her, powerful legs bending to take the shock. Rearing her left arm back, she drove it into the smaller beings form, causing parts of the already crushed car to break away from it and for the heavier remains to be pounded into the ground.

Without hesitating, she retracted the arm and struck him dead on with her other fist, repeating the motions several time before morphing both hands into axes and driving them down upon him, letting out a cry as the blades came to a shuddering halt, the descent stopped by the Demon bringing his staff up to take the blow.

"Not bad at all." Came the amused reply, the blades trembling over the wooden curves of his staff yet unable to sink into it. Narrowing her eyes, Antylamon threw herself back, cart wheeling out of the way in time to avoid a burst of flames. The demon calmly stood up and aside from his outfit being torn and his beard smeared with dirt; he looked for the most part unharmed.

"I have to say, you did wind me for a moment." He nonchalantly said, bringing his staff up to eye level to inspect it for any damage, not finding the slightest nick. "For an Antylamon, you dos how some combat prowess. And yet there is something familiar about you smell." He but both hands on the top of his staff, leaning forwards so that his chin nearly touched it, causing a missile shot by Rapidmon to fly over his head. "Now I know we never met, otherwise you'd be dead by now, you beign an Ultimate and all that. but oh that smell…" He sidestepped two beam of pink light that ANtylamon threw out of her axes and was suddenly in front of her. "Ah, now I remember. You're one of the bird's pets aren't you?" With a cry of surprise, Antylamon suddenly collapsed, a small crater becoming of the street beneath her, the streetlamps and cars imploding within themselves.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I just raise my power up? Silly me, I forgot the reaction that it would have on those of your level." A hand came up behind him, catching another missile and crushing it and letting it explode in his fist. "But I must say, your suicidal determination has always been rather amusing." He back flipped and Cyberdramon came crashing to the street, its claws crushing the pavement. Snarling, the feral launched itself at the demon, dodging a burst of fire and twisting around, its tail smashing into the demon's side, taking him off of his feat and through the wall of a building.

The founding of the building shuddered for a moment before Barbamon flew through the roof. Shaking his head he looked down at the figures of the Digimon, arching an eyebrow in surprise as the three of them began to fall back instead of engaging him. He was about to pursue when a noise caught his attention. It started as a low humming sound before it quickly became a roar. Looking behind him he had enough time to see a flying silver machine before an object struck him and blew up, sending him flying backwards before he caught himself. Shaking his head, he focused his senses and flew to the side as another missile blew past him. Shaking his head, he cursed as the missile turned and flew at him again.

_They didn't inform me about this weaponry_. He idly thought as he launched a beam of green light from his staff, destroying the missile, bringing up his power to deflect the shards flying around him, doing little to muffle the heat. Spinning around, he whacked a missile to the side with his staff, grimacing as it flew to the side before exploding, once more having the shards and flames envelop him. Flying backwards, he threw his staff upwards, catching a fourth missile and throwing it towards the approaching jet, catching his staff and flying towards the ground as the craft exploded.

Falling back to the level of the skyscrapers, he squawked in surprise as a few levels of the building to his left exploded before several impacts against his body made him lose control of his flight and sending him crashing through a building. Before he could push the rubble off of his body, the building shook violently for a few seconds as mortars struck it.

"Oh, Yggdrasil is so going to suffer for this." He mumbled to himself as the levels above him buckled, groaned and collapsed on him.

* * *

"And they accuse of us of excessive collateral damage?" Spoke an aghast Ryo, watching the events unfolding through Cyberdramon's eyes. He watched as the feint figure of the Demon Lord get caught off guard as the Jet's launched their missiles at him, then as the tanks engaged him, bombarding the building he was launched into until the first several floors began to collapse. "And there goes another condemned building for the city. At least it's not our fault this time."

"Oh they'll find a way to blame this on us somehow." Grumbled Henry, Ryo and Kenta having helped moved him to what was left of a warehouse's wall, sitting him up against it, his damaged leg stretched out in front of him. "Kenta, how's MarinAngemon?"

"Keeping his distance. I don't know how long he can keep this up though, he is creating a lot of protective bubbles out there. Doing that and healing them without getting himself noticed is not easy for him. Even with my cards I can't keep doping him up, his system won't allow it." Kenta was sitting next to an irritated Kazu, doing his best to ignore his friend and the silent form of Guardromon, doing his best to quench down the burst of irritation towards his friend.

"Alright, so the main reason that we're still in the fight is moot at this point. Jeri is still having issues with trying to stabilize Elecmon's data for him to digivolve, so that leaves her out. Kazu, you should really get him in there." Sighed Henry, tilting his head to the side to glare at said boy.

"I told you, Guardomon is too slow, he'd be too much of a target. It's hard enough to get him to digivolve in the first place and we're pretty screwed if we send him out and leaving ourselves defenseless." Snarled Kazu in reply, not making eye contact with anyone, instead staring at his shoes.

"We're screwed regardless of what he does if Barbamon comes back here." Came Rika's quiet reply. After having scanned Renamon with her D-arc, sighing as the features on it helped the kitsune's systems in stabilizing her, she had been propped up next to Henry. Her eyes were closed and a piece of cloth torn off from Ryo's sweater was presses against the cut on her stomach, her hand holding it in place.

"And you shouldn't be talking right now. The ambulance should be here soon, you can complain all you want once you've been taken care of." She tilted her head to the side, opening an eye to see Henry's good natured smile before closing it again with a huff.

"I still say you look better with your hair down, wild cat." Ryo laughed as Rika lifted her hand with all but her middle finger retracted. It was interrupted when both Henry and Ryo cried out. The former leaning forward, coughing violently and the latter having his knees buckle before collapsing.

"What just happened?" came Kazu's alarmed cry. He looked to the only person able to see the events unfolding, swallowing as he saw Kenta's narrowed eyes and gritted teeth. The question went unanswered, but it didn't matter because the sudden formation of a globe of darkness around several buildings stationed near the water was all he needed to know.

* * *

Barbamon looked around at his handiwork. A tad overkill and expended a lot more energy than his current reserves could safely handle, but it proved the point. Several blocks around him there was nothing left but ash and scorched earth. Here and there he could find the odd scrap of metal and what might have possibly been a bone. Not nearly as devastating as the attack could be when he was at full strength, still impressive nonetheless.

Humming to himself, he shouldered his staff and levitated off the ground, floating a few hundred meters before stopping, not at all surprised. Below him lay the comatose forms of his three foes, a large, blue, heart shaped dome surrounding all of them with a small pixie floating at the front of them. The dome was waning in and out of existence as he landed and the pixie was all battered up, having difficulty keeping itself afloat.

Tisking, Barbamon landed in front of the bubble, experimentally poking it with the end of his staff, humming as the tip was burnt off. "Now, imagine my surprise when they informed me that one of your kind was still alive." He nonchalantly spoke, circling the dome, eyeing it for any weak spots. Its kind had learned, for what they lacked in offense, they had done admiringly in compensating their defense. He couldn't find a single flaw in the barrier. Even more impressive was that the three Ultimates within it were steadily having their wounds healed. "I thought we made sure in annihilating all of your kind during the war, since your abilities can be rather irritating." The Ultimates began to stir and MarineAngemon became noticeably weaker as time went on.

Finally, Barbamon stopped in front of the pixie, a few inches of barrier separating them. "Who would have ever guesses that all you Seraphimon rejects would grow to be such an asset for the Royal Knights?" Mused the Demon, grinning as the pixie's eyes narrowed.

"Piii..pi." Came the muted reply, causing him to chuckle.

"My, such language, I didn't know you had it in you. Or was it that human's influence? No matter, he shall soon be dead like all the rest. Ah." He leaned forward, his index finger nearly touching the barrier as the pixie eye's narrowed in suspicion before widening in realization. "You seem familiar with what I'm talking about. So you are a survivor of the war, which would explain why you can't talk. Tell me, did you choose to come here of your own choosing, or did the knights send you?"

"Fist of the Beast King!" Barbamon grunted as the attack pushed him forward, screaming as the energized barrier recognized the data type and attacked the intruder violently, searing the Demon's face. Enraged, eh turned around to see a Leomon with his fist extended towards him, his sword loosely held in a reverse grip at his side. The Beast-man's face did not change its usual cool demeanor as he raised his sword in challenge, taking a step back as the demon appeared in front of him without prior warning and backhanding him, sending him sprawling to the ground, his sword slipping from his grasp.

"You know…" breathed Barbamon, one hand cupping the right side of his face. "It is one thing making me fight a bunch of Ultimates, but sending a champion to clean up their mess if just plain insulting." He kicked Leomon in the side, forcing a grunt of pain from the lion. Bringing his staff up, its end glowing a sickly green, he was about to strike down when his staff vanished. MarineAngemon, who has released the barrier in order to intercept the attack, let out a cry of surprise before collapsing, followed by Barbamon who fell to his knees, suddenly unable to breathe properly. Tilting his head back, he looked to the sky and inwardly cursed as he saw the nexus between the real world and the digital world open in the sky.

He understood the warning, and the fact that the fucker of a human dared to even threaten him enraged him. He would finish this another day. Glancing behind him at the sprawled form of his foes, the pain suddenly lifted and he was able to stand. Before he could summon his staff, MarineAngemon had summoned a wider barrier, covering all the other unconscious Digimon, already past its limits.

Without another word, Barbamon summoned the darkness, turned in place and was gone.

* * *

"You told me the program was destroyed, that we wouldn't have to deal with this anymore!" Janyuu Flinched as his son yelled at him. Staring helplessly at his son, he looked to the bed beside him and saw Ryo remaining quiet but stonily staring at him.

It had been several days since the attack. While the Tamers were recovering in the hospital, the city was up in an uproar. Several blocks of downtown Shinjuku had been annihilated with a few others in severe disrepair. The newspapers had had a field day with the turn of events, some putting blame on the Tamers, others putting the blame on those who had created the Digimon in the first place. Damage this intensive hadn't been seen since the D-Reaper, and even then it was only damaged buildings, not complete disintegration of important city blocks. Things had gone from bad to worse as news spread out about the event in the sky, recognizing it as the same thing that happened seven years earlier. Bad press Janyuu could have handled, but with the inevitable involvement of the United Nations, he did not see an easy way out of this.

"Dad, listen to me! You told me the Juggernaut was destroyed, gone, deleted. That with Yamaki gone we wouldn't have to worry about anything like that happening again.

"Henry… I can't explain it. We thought it was destroyed…only Yamaki had the genius to know what we would have to do to create a new one, but he's…"

"Dead? Come on dad! You've seen it all the time in movies, hell we've lived through them. No one ever stays dead anymore. Yamaki could have easily gone rogue or been abducted and we wouldn't have been wise to it."

"The police and military is looking into it…"

"The military can't do shit." Spat Ryo, causing the two other occupants of the room to look at him. "Mr. Wong, this isn't a normal Digimon that we or the military can take on, even with weaponry designed to take out Digimon. This is a Demon Lord. We were lucky that he couldn't use a portion of his true strength otherwise we'd all be dead. Thatw as a bastardized version of Juggernaut, and it was used as a warning. All I'm saying is fuck the military and get you nerd buddies together and try to find some way to fix this mess."

Janyuu sighed and stayed for several more minutes, his son refusing to speak to him and Ryo telling information that he and his partners had begun acting upon days earlier. Finaly, telling Henry he's visit soon, he left the hospital, called his wife to tell her he'd be late, and headed for their temporary headquarters.

* * *

Innokentiy Fialkovksii did not know what they had injected him upon capture, but as soon as he was out of this mess, he was definitely bringing it up with the medics back at base.

23 Years old, he was drafted by the FSB five years earlier when it came to the public eye that he had a Digimon partner, something unheard of outside of Japan up until that point. Afraid of what that would happen, he one day disappeared from public eye. He was taken to a military base several hours outside of Moscow towards the north and was told that he would be trained and become property of the Russian military so as to cover for any unpredicted attacks by rogue Digimon. Over the years, as five more tamers were found and he became the FSB liaison to the Japanese government and their Digimon expert, Mizuno Goro, or Shibumi as he preferred to be called, he grew accustomed to his new life.

Everything was fine up until…well it was two days earlier the last time he checked, before he lost consciousness. They had reports from England and America that children were being found murdered, each one having an odd device on their bodies. It didn't take too long for each respective governments to come to a grim conclusion and Fialkovksii was sent out with a squad of soldiers to take the Tamers into protective custody. They were too late for the first two and by the time they got to the third, they were ambushed. Several soldiers were taken down in the surprise attack and the Target had gotten his torso split from his legs in an explosion. Trying to recover from the explosion that sent him flying, he briefly registered the dart that was in his neck before pacing out. He'd been coming in and out of consciousness ever since. He had no idea what happened to his partner or the two other Tamers.

He had managed to stay consciousness long enough to recognize what seemed like a command center and saw dozens of personnel: Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, American and so on. What did catch his attention though was the man in charge. He had been taught how to recognize an officer's badge and it was fairly simple making out the General. He was speaking to what seemed an old man and young woman who both loomed over him, each being yelling heatedly at each other in Japanese. He had enough time to see the odd staff and the mutilated right hand of the woman before passing out again.

He didn't know how long it had been until he woke up, but he was in a small barren room and was greeted by an older Japanese man with dirty blond hair and a long matching beard, both heavily greased and having a smell that made him gag upon waking.

"Easy there comrade." Spoke the man in perfect Russian, helping him sit up against the wall. He brought a canteen of water to Fialkovksii's lips and he greedily drank it down.

"My thanks." He mumbled as he blearily looked around. "You'll have to forgive me, but I have been in a cell before and no man is ever kind to one another in them. So it would be best if you come out with it sooner, rather than later." Narrowing his eyes upon the man's form, he then realized that he had been severely beaten, and from the way he stood, it had been often.

The man gave him a mirthless smirk as he kneeld in front of him. "You may call me Yamaki and you, Innokentiy Fialkovksii, are my ticket out of here."

**Even if the morrow is barren with promises, nothing shall forestall my return**- Loveless

**AN: There you go, another chapter up earlier then I expected. read enjoy, leave a review, preferably detailed. And thanks to CrazyEight for the beta of the first part of this.**


End file.
